Newly Discovered Afghan Pink Diaspore

Earlier this year, a new deposit of Diaspore was discovered in the Goshta district, near Jalalabad, of Afghanistan. The size, color and clarity of the Pink Diaspore from this new deposit is truly unheard of.

Previously Pink Diaspore has only been seen in under one-carat sizes from Burma. We are lucky to have a close contact near the source who was able to supply us with this new material in March of 2020, just a few weeks after it was first discovered. For several months Mark collected clean, fine examples of this Pink Diaspore and sent specimens for closer lab analysis, in order to learn as much as we could about this new material.

We contributed our learnings regarding this new Afghan Pink Diaspore in a recent issue of The Journal of Gemmology (Vol. 37, No.3), upon the invitation of Brendan Laurs, editor of the publication. We also gladly contributed a short clip for a Gem-A Live Webinar, in which Mark briefly discusses his insights on this material, gives a closer look at the various hues and shades available, and shares further details about a the ‘mining’ at the deposit itself. As of April 2020, all mining at this deposit has halted due to local disagreement, and all material currently on the market is from the short window of mining that occurred in spring.

To learn more about this newly discovered Afghan Pink Diaspore, please watch the clip below (starting at 21:51), or the full webinar on YouTube. You can also check out this article about Afghan Pink Diaspore in The Journal of Gemmology by Gem-A publication online here.

If you have any questions, or are interested in purchasing Afghan Pink Diaspore, please feel free to contact us. We have a wide array of sizes, hues and cuts available of this unique gem.

Thank you to Gem-A and The Journal of Gemmology for inviting our contribution.