Kenyan Gem Hunter
VTER YOUNG IS KING OF THE GEM JUNGLE
For many of us much of 2020 and 2021 has been like being extras in some kind of science fiction movie where a mutant virus that made a trans-species jump from animals to humans is spreading like wildfire around the world.
Wait . . . that is not fiction, but a reality that brought a screeching halt to our daily routines. The months of isolation did, however, give me an opportunity to travel virtually and partake in the exploits of a third generation African rough gemstone buyer named
Vter Young. Vter (whose given name is Peter Ngumbi Musomba) spends much of his time traveling around the back country of Kenya in search of artisanal miners who eke out a living doing the back-breaking work of digging in the earth for any one of the many gemstone species Kenya and neighboring Tanzania are known for.
My first contact with Vter was via Facebook where he had been posting photos of deep green tsavorite garnets he had been purchasing from the locals. I was mesmerized by both their beauty and the photos Vter had taken of his buying trips. His photos were so captivating that I asked if he might be interested in having me write an article on his exploits. To my delight he said yes, so for several months we have exchanged messages, and he has sent photos and provided answers to my myriad of questions. The o nly thing better than this exchange of information and questions would have been a trip to Kenya to hit the bush with Vter and his two companions, but alas due to the Covid 19 pandemic travel restrictions that was not to be. Fortunately I was able to take it all in through Vter’s eyes.
Geologically, eastern Kenya and adjacent parts of Tanzania consist of a suite of metamorphic rocks called the Mozambique Belt. They are the remnants of a time when Africa, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, and Antarctica were part of a super continent called Rodinia. These rock are old, I mean really old. The Rodinia continent formed some 1.2 billion years ago and started to break up 700-800 million years ago. All of this geological activity with its
resulting extreme heat and pressure at depth gave rise to a complex series of formations that are dominated by gneiss, reworked basement rocks, and pegmatites. Significant faulting allowed hydrothermal processes to enrich the rock formations and pegmatites giving rise to the suite of gemstone species that make east Africa such a magnet for miners and rough gemstone buyers.
The list of gemstone types found in Kenya and adjacent Tanzania is long. It includes several kinds of garnet, tanzanite, tourmaline, sapphires and others. The main gemstone bearing areas are found along a fault that extends from the Taita Hills in Kenya to the Umba Valley in northern Tanzania.
The life of artisanal miners is tough and fraught with the boom-and-bust life cycle that was so much a part of the many gold rushes that occurred in North America. Few miners actually own the land where they are mining, instead they strike some kind of business deal with land owners. Some give a percentage of what they find to the land owner, while others are provided with tools and food for a percentage of what they find. A lack of mechanization relegates most of the mining activity to hand tools. Sledges, chisels, picks, pry bars, wheel barrows and shovels are utilized for most of the digging. Gloves, goggles, and work boots are a luxury most cannot afford. Better financed operations might have air compressors, rock drills, explosives and backhoes. The host rock
which is dominated by gneiss and schist is tough and gets harder and more resistant with depth so many of the small-time mines tend to be rather shallow pits.
New areas are first explored by checking for signs of mineralization. If any traces of gemstone crystals are found on the surface, shallow pits are then dug to check the potentials for starting a mine. Most of the mining operations are either worked by individuals or small teams. After exposing the metamorphic bedrock the miners often tunnel following gemstone trends in the decomposing rock. Most of these tunnels are not braced so cave-ins, dislodged boulders, and wall collapses are fairly common. Miners die each year as they pursue the elusive treasures. It is very dangerous work.
My virtual field trip with Vter followed him crisscrossing much of the gemstone bearing areas in eastern Kenya south of the city of Voi and then down into neighboring Tanzania. Vter said he spends extended periods of time based in Voi when on buying trips. The gem fields can be dangerous so when Vter is in the field he is accompanied by a security manager named Michael and a driver named Philip who arranges all of the transportation. The roads he and his companions travel are often no more than dirt tracks that wind through the acacia thorn bush. The monsoon season makes these roads impassable.
On this trip one of the mines Vter visited was a prospect that had been drilled and blasted through
80 feet of solid rock. Another 30 feet of overburden and loose rock above the shaft had first been removed with a track hoe. This mine was being funded by the land owner to the tune of $60,000 and counting. The steep incline into the mine was accessed via a rope.
As he looked down the audit he could hear the sharp staccato hammering of sledge on steel chisels from deep in the dark depths of the tunnel, lit only by flashlights secured to the sides of the miners’ heads. Months of backbreaking work had so far produced little in the way of gemstones. Alas this is the life of miners everywhere. Do you keep digging and hope that a big find is close, or abandon the diggings and find some place to start over?
The main gemstone rough Vter is interested in is tsavorite garnet. As miners follow mineralized trends in tsavorite bearing gneiss the garnets they encounter usually consist of masses of what looks like green aquarium gravel. As stated earlier, after the crystals initially formed at depth tectonic forces crushed them into smaller green glassy bits. This is why finding tsavorite rough larger than a carat is difficult. Once a mass is found it is carefully excavated and hauled to the surface where it is picked apart and sorted.
I asked Vter if he could locate a miner he buys rough from who could be featured in this collaboration and he selected James Gecago Solomon. James has been mining gemstones for 30 years and Vter has been his main buyer for the past six years. He is married with two kids and works by himself. During that time the largest tsavorite he has ever found was four grams which pencils out at 20 carats. James doesn’t own the land he mines on, nor does he have a claim. Instead he has a working relationship with the land owner who is given 30% of what James gets for the tsavorite rough he finds. Day in and day out he toils to find enough rough to support his family. His weathered skin and calloused hands are a testament to his many years working under a hot Kenyan sun pursuing his fortune in the unforgiving gneiss bedrock that hides the green treasures.
I was so impressed by what Vter had to say about James that I went out and purchased a pair of heavy duty Carhart jeans and some leather gloves for him. It took forever for the parcel to reach Kenya, but James was grateful for the gift.
Vter has been a rough gemstone buyer for the past 10 years. His family has been in the business for three generations, and Vter learned the business from his father John Ngumbi Mainga and grandfather. This long tradition has allowed his family to make deep connections with artisanal miners all over the gemstone bearing areas. His family name recognition has afforded him great success in the cutthroat competition of seeking out good rough.
Vter periodically visits miners he keeps in contact with to see what they have been finding and follows up on rumors of large stones being found. He also deals with brokers who have bought rough from miners for resale. When dealing with miners Vter said he assesses the quality of the rough they have found, offers a price
he is willing to pay, and then buys everything they have. He said he often pays more for parcels from the miners because they tend to undervalue their finds. He said that brokers are harder to work with as their asking prices for parcels is usually high so he just makes an offer, they counter, and he says yes or no.
Selecting rough Vter would like to buy is a science in itself. Some sellers attempt to prey on inexperienced buyers by trying to pass off pieces of green glass or much less valuable green tourmaline. He said he prices rough by color, clarity, size, and potential yield. Ultimately the price he pays for a parcel will depend on the factors listed above. Because larger crystal pieces are rare they command higher prices. The dance between sellers and competition between potential buyers can be quite intense at times.
I so enjoyed this virtual field trip with Vter as he tromped the back roads and dirt tracks of southern
Kenya. His patience and willingness to allow me to participate in this journey is much appreciated. Hopefully in the future I will be able to meet him in person as he has in the past been a dealer at the Tucson shows.
Vter has a Facebook page that he updates on an almost daily basis where he showcases his gemstone finds as both still photos and video. He also posts parcels of different kinds of gemstone rough he runs into. One of his latest posts featured a type of blue garnet I had never seen. Anyone interested in purchasing rough from Vter can contact him via his Facebook page (Vter Young) or by email (vtersyoung@gmail.com or Instagram).
Another cool project Vter has been working on is to offer gemstone hunting safaris in Kenya the last two weeks of August. These excursions run a minimum of six days and include two days visiting Kenya’s biggest national parks. For more information he can be contacted at his email address.
Challis Plume Agate is found in central Idaho, and has so many attributes of characteristic Idaho materials. There’s so much beauty in each piece you cut. This material has a fascinating array of colors and patterns, and various characteristics, such as its sea foam green to dark green feathery plumes, mixed with yellow agate - a color combo shared by Prudent Man Agate, and banded with an outer golden flame pattern that is reminiscent of Wyoming’s Lysite agate.
To top it off, it also has various pockets of botryoidal agate, with an angel wing cap.
Finding this material isn’t always easy, every once in a while you’ll see some on eBay or Facebook, and at shows. It usually comes in a seam, generally in larger sizes in the 2- to 10-pound range, like graveyard plume and others that form in the same way. When finding rough, it’s difficult to judge what you’ll be getting on the inside, but generally you won’t be disappointed.
When starting to slab this material, there is usually a rough or angel wing top, which gives you an idea what direction to cut. I’ve found its best to cut top to bottom to display the best patterns, much like cutting a lace agate to see all the layers. When you have the slabs all cut, and you plan to incorporate the angel wings in your cab designs, its best to let them soak in hot soapy water for a few hours and use a steel brush to knock all the dirt out of the angel wing cap, unless you plan on just cutting around it and use only the solid portions of the agate. When starting to draw out your designs, bench testing this material is really important. It can contain fractures, some being visible, and others not so much. Tap it on a wood surface gently and see if it breaks, and from there you can start drawing out all your preforms on the solid pieces.
The cabbing process can be a little tricky, as this material varies in hardness. The bottom rind (golden flames) is usually much softer than the top agate portions and will have to be dealt with, with a softer touch from the get go. The angel wing cap can also be brittle to grind, and chancing losing some of the strands breaking off. To start, such as any agate, grind down your shape on an 80 grit steel wheel, again, be a bit cautious on the golden flames, so you don’t undercut it too much from the rest. If you are designing cabs utilizing the angel wing top, be cautious when grinding, do the bare minimum at this stage until you move forward to the 220 grit. Now, you continue to a 220 steel wheel, but one thing I like to do with agates with varying hardness and brittle areas, is move away from the steel wheels and use a course soft resin wheel instead, usually a 140 grit or even a 220. These grind down much smoother and with less vibrations, giving it less chances to fracture off pieces. By using a 140 soft resin diamond wheel, it will also remove deep scratches in a hurry and make far less work for you in the long run. At this point, the rest should be easy. Move on to your 280 grit wheel, and continue to dry the cab every few minutes and check for scratches. Once all the scratches have been removed, it’s time to move forward and finish off your cab.