Societal Mineralogy
Geographic Origin of Gems: Traceability Technology and Its Applications
Co-Conveners
Stefanos Karampelas, Department of Mineralogy-Petrology-Economic Geology, School of GeologyAristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Andy Hsitien Shen, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan)
Mingxing Yang, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan)
Zhili Qiu, Sun Yat-sen University
Aaron Palke, Gemological Institute of America
Bo Xu, China University of Geosciences (Beijing)
As one of the core attributes of gems, their geographic origin aids in understanding trade routes of gems used in ancient jewelry, addresses ethical concerns through transparent mine-to-market supply chain and in parallel plays an important role in their value. At the same time, geographic origin enables comparative analysis of differences in gems formations, clarifying mechanisms behind metallogenic differentiation and guiding mineral exploration. Therefore, origin determination is not only a core technical underpinning for gemological laboratories but also a frontier research direction driving disciplinary development. At present, inclusion characteristics, spectroscopic information, and chemical composition have emerged as key discriminant indicators for gems provenance identification. However, with continuous accumulation of data, some identification methods are facing severe challenges.
This forum welcomes the latest advancements in testing technologies for the geographic origin of gems, encompassing traditional gemological methods alongside non- (or micro-) destructive advanced analytical techniques such as: spectroscopic analysis (FTIR, Raman, UV-Vis-NIR, fluorescence spectroscopy), chemical analysis (XRF, LIBS, SIMS, LA-ICP-MS, EPMA, SEM/EDSTEM), as well as innovative approaches including machine learning and big data analysis.
