This is one of our four different gemstone tours in Pakistan. For this special tour we team up with a local geologist who has also decades of experience in not only geology, but taking tourists all over Pakistan. You cannot ask for a better guide in Pakistan who has this much knowledge in the field and also has extensive knowledge of Pakistan. You’ll be introduced to the origins of precious and semi-precious stones in Pakistan as you’ll be in the good hands of a professional. On our gemstone trips we visit several mines and also gemstone shops. You will see how the gemstones are mined and get to know the culture around it. We have a total of 4 different programmes which you can find on our website. You can ofcourse combine them, please contact us if you’d like to do that.

There are several organizations which are active in the gemstone industry in Pakistan such as APCEA and PGJDC. The coastal city of Karachi used to be one of the biggest trading centers of gems in Pakistan, but afterwards the trade moved to Peshawar, becoming the center of gemstone trading in Pakistan. In Peshawar you can also find gemstones which come from Afghanistan, as the city neighbors the country. There are gemstone identification labs all over the country, which are established by the government of Pakistan  (Pakistan Gems and Jewelry) with the goal of promoting the gemstone business in Pakistan. We can find facilities in Lahore, Karachi, Quetta, Gilgit, Sargodha and Muzaffarabad. This has had a positive influence on the gemstone trade in Pakistan. There are of course also private identification laboratories.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa we have the Hinduskush mountains, the Karakoram mountain range and the Himalayas with a massive production of baryte, corundum and quartz. In Swat there are enormous reserves of emerald and there is a good stock of pink topaz in Mardan and peridot in Kohistan. In the Tribal Areas, located next to Afghanistan with the Safed Koh range and Sulaiman range, we can find a large variety of gems such as emerald, tourmaline, garnet, quartz and others. Gilgit-Baltistan has many minerals and gems such as ruby, sapphire, moonstone and amethyst, azurite, agate and many others. Hunza is known for beautiful pink and red rubies. In the south in Balochistan where there are several rugged mountain ranges we can also find emeralds, apatite, saphine, tourmaline, ruby, topaz, turquoise and many others. 

On our travel in Pakistan we will visit gemstone mines with precious and semi-precious stones in the mountain areas of the north in Pakistan. Besides mines, there will be plenty of opportunities to go to local markets and shops so you will have the chance to buy gemstones and minerals from Pakistan during your travel. We offer mine visits in several regions such as Skardu, Chitral, Haramosh, Deosai, near Nanga Parbat, Hindukush, Swat Valley, Hunza Valley, Nagar Valley and many others. Our trips include hiking and camping, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to discover the natural wonders of Pakistan as we are going to one of the most beautiful regions in all of the country and with some of the most breathtaking mountainous views in all of the world.

You will have plenty of opportunities to interact with the locals and there is also time for culture and history during our village visits. You will get to know everything related to the mining trade and the life and the culture around the gemstone and mineral trade. Some of the mines only require short hikes, but for others we have to trek a few days. We selected the most interesting hikes, so that you’ll have a wonderful experience in the middle of nature. Combined with camping you will feel truly connected to this place, an ideal way of clearing your mind. Enjoy the green lush valleys of Hunza and Nagar, covered in the blossoms of apricots, apples and cherries. Discover the mighty forts of Karimabad and be amazed by the majestic snow-capped mountains of Gilgit-Baltistan, some of the highest mountains in the world. We can find gem pegmatites all over Gilgit-Baltistan, the northern province of Pakistan where we can find huge batholiths and pegmatite fields,    

Itinerary: 

Swat Valley is located in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan.  In the east it borders the districts of Kohistan and Shangla, in the south with the districts of Buner and Malakand, in the west with the Lower Dir and Chitral. In the north it borders on the Gilgit-Baltistan region, the former Northern Territories of Pakistan. 

The district encloses the valley of the River Swat. The region is known as the “Switzerland of Pakistan” because of the lush green fields in the valley and the sparse coniferous forests that thrive on the hills at mid-elevation. The river that flows through the district and the name Swat was mentioned as Suvastu in the Hindu scripture Rigveda over 3000 years ago. Some petroglyphs (Gogdara Rock Carvings) found on the rock walls of the valley are probably around 3000 years old. In the last centuries before Christ and in the first centuries after Christ the Swat valley was a center of Buddhism; several stupas (e.g. in the villages of Amlukdara, Butkara or Shingardara) and several rock reliefs with depictions of the meditating Buddha still point to this – one was partially destroyed by the Taliban.

Swat is also famous for its green emerald, which were discovered by shepherds in 1958 near Mingora who showed them to Prince Miamgul Jahanzeb, the last Wali of Swat who showed them to his friends from Bombay, who immediately identified the stones as emeralds. The area was immediately searched for more crystals.    

There are three emerald mines in Swat district: the Mingora mine, the Shamoozi mine and the Charbagh mine. In the Shangla district we have the Gujar Mine and Makad mine.

In the Katlang-Mardan district we find the rare pink topaz. There are three mines in Ghundao, Shamosai and Mia Khan. The pink topaz is only found in Ghundao and was discovered in the 1970s. The locality consists of various limestone rocks that are folded into a long fault zone. Topaz mineralization runs through these folds. In contrast to pegmatite topaz, the fluids that deposit pink topaz in the Katlang Valley are hydrothermal in nature. Fifteen centimeters wide veins of milky quartz and white gray and brown calcite contain topaz embedded in clay. Scientists connect the topaz mineralization, presumably tertiary in age, to the collision of the Indian continent and Kohistan island arc. During the Cretaceous and late Tertiary, granitic intrusion along the over- thrust of main mantle thrust could have supplied the necessary fluorine to form topaz (Spengler 1985). 

Katlang topaz is transparent to translucent and range from colorless to hot pink, crystals are pleochroic, moving from yellow to pink violet as the orientation of the crystal is changed. Unlike topaz found in pegmatites in the rest of Pakistan, the intense color of Katlang topaz is stable and will not fade with exposure to light.

Day 1: Arrival at Islamabad airport and transfer to hotel. Free evening or evening visit to the city if there is time. 

Day 2: Drive to Peshawar 2-3 hours’ drive. Visit to Namak Mandi: Pakistan’s only international gemstone market with gemstones all over from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Iran. We will visit the shops and will have a look at the cutting centers as well to see how the gemstones are cut and polished. If time permits we will see the rest of Peshawar. 

Day 3: Today we’re going to Mardan- Katlang and visit the mines, the drive there is particularly beautiful. We will stay overnight in Swat Valley. 

Day 4: Visit of the emerald mines and markets.

Day 5: Free day in which we can Malam Jabba and bazaars and visit the local museum

Day 6: Drive to Islamabad and free evening. Day 7: Buffer day in Islamabad with PCR-testing

Day 8: Departure

Includes:
– Accommodation and camping as per itinerary
– Meals during camping
– All transport
– Professional government licensed guide with Phd in geology

Excludes:
– Domestic and international flights

Price:
1 person: 4890 usd
2 persons: 2995 usd per person
3 persons: 2599 usd per person
4 persons: 2165 usd per person
** Single supplement: 630 usd

Our gemstone specialist:

Mr. Ishaq is our geologist and general guide and grew up in the Hunza Valley. Besides geology his interests are hiking in nature and he has been working as a trekking guide over 12 year all over Pakistan (and the Alps) and has general experience in the field since 1992 assisting in not only geological tours, but also trekking and climbing tours. He has great knowledge about Pakistani precious and semi-precious stones and has direct contact with miners and local dealers in the northern areas of Pakistan and leads the expeditions to the mines and has in the past assisted in coordinating documentaries about gemstones in Pakistan. He has great overall experience and will add a lot of value as a guide, besides being a great geologist.