Awesome lot of Midnight Blue to Black Sapphire Cabbing Rough from Bauchi, Nigeria! This is an odd lot that we picked up on our recent trip to Nigeria as a icebreaker to get some business started. Overall the lot is opaque; however, there are a few pieces that are translucent to transparent. Some areas look very gemmy in a few stones but we didn't want to try to cob this material because of the hardness. A few of the stones do show what appears to be Asterism and therefore you may be able to take out some Cat's Eye cabs out of here but there are no guarantees on that because of our limited experience dealing with Asterism in stones. Sapphire production is at a virtual standstill for this material in Nigeria and prices at the mines are generally above what we are selling the material for at the moment.

1. Nigeria is currently producing sapphire at three different sites. This material is from Antan and we are hopeful of getting additional material from different locations as the demand for the rough becomes evident. We are currently working with mine holders in Tanzania to acquire some nice East African Sapphire Rough in the the future!