Discovering the Paraíba Tourmaline

From a geological point of view, the Paraíba Tourmaline, along with many other varieties of tourmaline, is found within rocks known as ‘pegmatitic’, i.e. special magmatic rocks. These rocks, resulting from the slow cooling of magma enriched in rare chemical elements, contain many gem minerals in addition to tourmalines, often of considerable size. The chemical element copper, which is fundamental for the unique colour of the Paraíba Tourmaline, is present, however, in only a few geological contexts known to date, making this gemstone exceptionally rare and valuable compared to other more common varieties of tourmaline.

From a historical perspective, the first Paraíba tourmalines were discovered in 1989 in the Brazilian state of Paraíba by a local miner named Heitor Dimas Barbosa. Subsequently, other mines were found in Brazil, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Despite these new discoveries, the production of Paraíba Tourmaline in Brazil declined dramatically from the late 1990s onwards.

In the early 2000s, the discovery of new copper-containing tourmaline mines in Nigeria and Mozambique brought new material of this type onto the market. However, the use of the name ‘Paraíba’ for these African copper-containing tourmalines has raised controversy in the industry. In the trade, many prefer to reserve the term ‘Paraíba’ only for tourmalines mined in Brazil, while terms such as ‘African Paraíba’, ‘Paraíba-like’, ‘copper-containing tourmaline’ or ‘cupriferous tourmaline’ are often used for African ones. Despite these controversies, some important gemological industry guidelines, including those of the LMHC ((Laboratory Manual Harmonisation Committee), suggest the use of the term ‘Paraíba’ to describe any tourmaline with hue, tone and saturation characteristics as well as chemical composition similar to those of Paraíba Tourmaline originally discovered in Brazil.

Tourmaline mines in Mozambique were discovered in the early 2000s in the vicinity of the village of Mavuco, in the Nampula Province in the north-east of the country. These deposits, from a geological point of view, are located in the pegmatitic district of Ligonha and are renowned for the extraction of tourmalines of various hues, including the precious rubellite and the rare Paraíba tourmaline.

Paraíba tourmalines from Mozambique display an extremely intense and fascinating blue-green, blue-green or violet-blue colouration, often accompanied by a high degree of purity in the rough. Rubellite from this geological context also often contains copper and, when heated at low temperature, takes on the precious hues of Paraíba Tourmaline. However, specimens of Paraíba tourmaline with an exceptional colouring that do not require any heat treatment also come from Mozambique.

Tourmaline is a gemstone that can often contain fluid inclusions within it from the geological environment in which it was formed. These fluid inclusions are extremely sensitive to heat, thermal shock and mechanical stress. Therefore, it is advisable to avoid using steam or ultrasound to clean tourmalines, as they may cause these inclusions to expand and cause fractures during the cleaning process. The safest method of caring for your tourmaline is gentle cleaning with mild soap, lukewarm water and a soft-bristled brush.