Thursday, November 12, 2015

A 'gem pit', Avissawella, Sri Lanka.


The pit is dug vertically down till a layer named 'illam' is reached. Water has to be pumped out all the time using petrol or kerosene powered pumps. Once the layer of 'illam' is reached. tunneling has to be done sideways. The extracted soil is brought out and washed to pick out the heavier gem stones.