Paraíba Tourmaline - Geographic Origin Determination of Paraíba Tourmaline
Vivid blue to green copper-bearing tourmalines, known as Paraíba tourmalines, are recovered from deposits in Brazil, Nigeria, and Mozambique.
Gem-quality bright blue to green “Paraíba”-type Cu-bearing tourmaline is now known from deposits in Africa (Nigeria and Mozambique), in addition to three commercial localities in Brazil (in Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte States). Stones from these new localities have been mixed into parcels from the original Brazilian Paraíba occurrence. The Nigerian and Mozambique tourmalines that show saturated blue-to-green colors cannot be distinguished from the Brazilian material by standard gemological...