There are many interesting types of gemstones produced in the United States and many significant deposits.
However, when US mine production numbers are compared to US gemstone consumption, domestic production numbers
are trivial. In 2005 the United States produced about $14 million worth of gemstones but had an apparent
consumption of nearly $8.4 billion. That means that the United States consumed a lot more gemstones than
it produced.
United States Statistics (millions of dollars) |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
| Natural Gemstone Production |
14.9 |
12.6 |
12.5 |
14.5 |
13.9 |
| Laboratory-Created Gemstone Production |
24.7 |
18.1 |
33.4 |
30.7 |
44.3 |
| Imports for Consumption |
11,300 |
12,900 |
13,600 |
15,400 |
16,900 |
| Exports and Reexports |
4,320 |
4,880 |
5,490 |
7,230 |
8,580 |
| Apparent Consumption |
7,020 |
8,050 |
8,160 |
8,220 |
8,380 |
According to the USGS Mineral Commodities Summary, there were about 1,200 people employed at US
gemstone mines during 2005. That number understates the amount of effort and interest
in domestic gemstone production. Each year thousands of gemstone collectors, prospectors,
rockhounds and other interested people visit hundreds of pay-to-dig mines across the United
States. Most states probably have several pay-to-dig mines where anyone can visit, pay $10 or
so and try their luck at finding some nice gems. Many of these mines are visited by
thousands of people per year (For an example of a pay-to-dig mine, see the Geology.com
article on
Herkimer Diamonds.)
Even though the pay-to-dig fee is very small these operations produce a substantial amount of
local commerce, once the price of hotel rooms, campgrounds, restaurants, gasoline and on-site
purchases of everything from work gloves to goggles to Gatorade are considered. The business
generation value is probably ten times the pay-to-dig fee.
The main reason why the US has such a gemstone trade imbalance is that value is concentrated
in diamond jewelry and our domestic production of that stone is insignificant. The two upsides
for the United States are: 1) at least one domestic diamond mine is a future possibility,
and 2) US gemstone miners should have very little trouble selling their production in the
domestic market.
Sources of Gemstone Information:
Information used to prepare this article was obtained from a variety of sources.
Geological survey websites are a good place to start if you are looking for information about the resources of a specific geographic area. If you are searching for information on specific commodities the
Minerals Yearbook published by the U.S. Geological Survey can be an excellent source. A summary document is U.S. Bureau of Mines Special Publication 14-95: "
An Overview of Production of Specific U.S. Gemstones".
