GRS Gemresearch Documentary: Sapphire Mining in Madagascar (2008)

[SwordfishMining]

I love to armchair mine almost as much as i enjoy sitting in the hole mining.
Off for Sapphires in Madagascar.

[PinkDiamond]

That was an interesting trip through the mines in Madagascar, and the gems are stunning, but what disturbs me is how hard those people work all day in the hot sun, digging and doing the heavy lifting and all the grunt work in brutal conditions none of us would work in (except maybe you, John, but at least you work for yourself), and then getting a pittance for a full day's labor. When you think about how much the gemstones go for at the end of the line once they're cut, it's blatantly unfair that those who do the hardest work get the least remuneration. Such is the mining industry, like so many others where such disparity exists between the people at the top and those at the bottom.