November's Birthstone Citrine

Citrine is the yellow variety of macrocrystalline Quartz that takes its name from "citron," the French word for lemon. Citrine is a beautiful transparent gemstone and one of November's birthstones.Citrine occurs naturally in proximity to Amethyst and is a related Quartz mineral. The color of Citrine is due to small amounts (approximately 40 parts per million) of iron in the crystal structure of Quartz.click here to read more

In antiquity, most gemstones were discovered near the surface, generally by accident. While this has somewhat changed in modern times, prospecting for colored gemstones is still a fairly primitive affair, relying more on observation and chance, than the intensive scientific methods employed by the large multinational corporations involved in Diamond exploration. Once work begins on a gemstone deposit, it is correctly called a "mine."

One of the most intriguing aspects of gemstone mining is the diversity of techniques employed in their extraction. These range from low tech tools such as shovels and sieves, to the high tech methods used to extract Diamonds from pipes (a volcanic pathway that connects the earth's deep mantle to the surface). Apart from the introduction of power tools and pumps, most colored gem mining hasn't changed dramatically in thousands of years and still relies on three key things - perseverance, hand tools and elbow grease.click here to read more