Hi folks, there are several inaccuracies and and bits of
misin the letter from Sam Mollel of the 19/12/2001 in
order presumably to support his case and revive- he hopes, the
flagging Tanzanite market, since I could not resist it here is my two
- pennorth my replies are given under the paras in which they
appeared in Sams letter. para 3 ( the ref to dollars) he says that
Dollars can be bought anywhere and there is no point in exporting
Tanzanite in order to obtain them. this is entirely missing the point
When a commodity is available from a single source only (Merelani)
,and that source is tightly controlled by a few operators , the price
of the item is thus forced up as the operators set up a bottleneck
and trickle the stones onto the market, Dollars on the other hand are
freely traded and the same conditions do not apply The Dubai reference
Sam says why send the stones to Dubai since it is not a recognised
market for this item . As we all know stones travel and can appear in
any area where there is a strong demand or where the buyers
congregate and so make a market. Para 4 (the poor peasantry appeal)
There are other Moslem gemstone buyers whose priorities are not
food, housing etc also active in Tanzania and they certainly do not
come under the category of poor local citizens Para13 ( the dealer
mix) Sam conveniently lists non Moslem countries to make up his 98%
of those who have connections with the American market in any case
religious ties are not necessarily the only motives for having
business connections to the gangsters of this world, greed figures
largely in the picture. Para 8 (heating temp) The temperature as Sam
no
doubt knows, to change the brown into blue, is not 1050 degrees but
closer to 400 degrees and in most cases a domestic stove will
suffice. Para 9 (misquoted?) In conclusion-- hands up all those who
believe that the main motives of the controlling players in Tanzanite
industry inside Tanzania are to assist the poor people to raise their
standard of living by making more money available from the mining
operations to them and are not ,as most of us believe, merely to
maximise the profits obtainable regards DAVE