Where Are Pakistan's Gemstones Found? A Province-by-Province Mining Location Guide

Gemstones of Pakistan Series:  ← Part 1: The Complete Guide   |   Part 2: Where They Are Found (you are here)

A note on sourcing: The information in this guide draws on 12 years of direct fieldwork with miners and local traders across Pakistan and Afghanistan, corroborated by authoritative published research from Pala International, the GIA, and geological surveys. Pakistan hosts approximately 32 types of gemstones across more than 2,150 recorded mines, with an estimated 95% of national production originating from Gilgit Baltistan alone. The country's export potential is estimated at US$2 billion annually, yet official exports remain a fraction of that figure, making Pakistani gemstones one of the most undervalued commodities in the global gem market.

Gemstones Found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK)

Pakistan's most prestigious gemstone deposit. The Swat Valley holds an estimated 70 million carats of emerald reserves, making it one of the largest known deposits in the world. The deposit has five major mining zones: Mingora (the most commercially significant), Charbagh, Gujar Kili, Makhad, and Shamozai. Emeralds have been mined from the Swat valley for more than 2,500 years, with examples traceable as far back as ancient Roman settlements in Europe. Swat emeralds compete directly with Colombian output from the Muzo mines — their color ranging from pale grass green to deeply saturated vivid green, with a warm undertone that distinguishes them from the cooler greens of Colombian stones. Mining is overwhelmingly artisanal, carried out by local communities using methods that have changed little over centuries.

The Katlang mine in Mardan district is the source of Pakistan's famous pink topaz, one of the rarest color varieties of topaz found anywhere in the world. Gemstone mining in Katlang is a centuries-old tradition, with local families using hand tools to extract stones across generations. Mardan is estimated to hold 9 million carats of pink topaz reserves. The Katlang material produces both a sweet baby pink and a purplish pink variety immediately recognizable to serious collectors. Natural pink topaz of this saturation is exceptionally scarce globally — most pink topaz sold commercially is heat-treated yellow or brown topaz. Katlang's material is genuinely natural and commands premium pricing in international markets when properly certified.

Kohistan is one of Pakistan's most significant peridot deposits, with reserves estimated at 10 million carats. The Soppat area of Kohistan produces lime-green peridot crystals of excellent quality. Pakistani peridot is formed in volcanic basalt — the same geological origin as the famed peridot of St. John's Island in Egypt. The Kohistan material tends toward a slightly more olive green than the yellowish greens found in China. Peridot from Kohistan has historically been exported rough to Thailand and India, where it is cut and re-exported — a pattern that continues to represent one of the largest value leakages from the Pakistani gem sector.

The former Federally Administered Tribal Areas, now merged into KPK, contain their own distinct gemstone deposits. Mohmand Agency produces emerald, clinozoisite, sphene, and epidote — making it a secondary emerald source alongside Swat. Bajaur Agency produces emerald, garnet, and notably orange-coloured scapolite — a distinctive variety rarely found in this color elsewhere. Bajaur is also the source of Pakistan's idocrase (vesuvianite) in two varieties: a common apple green and a rarer dark green with yellow streaks. Khyber Agency produces specialty quartz with astrophyllite and reibeckite fiber inclusions, alongside rare earth minerals xenotime and bastnaesite. North and South Waziristan yield a remarkable range of specialty quartz: faden quartz, diamond quartz, phantom quartz, chlorite-included quartz, and window quartz — all prized by mineral collectors internationally. Nephrite jade from Mohmand and Bajaur, the only commercially active jade deposits in Pakistan, is exported primarily to China.

Gemstones Found in Gilgit Baltistan

Pakistan produces some of the finest aquamarine in the world and the stone is found across an exceptionally wide range of documented sites in Gilgit Baltistan. The major production zones include: Gilgit, Hunza, and Shigar (Gilgit district); Shengus, Stak Nala, and Tormiq Nala along the Baltistan Skardu Road; Childee, Kashmal, and Yuno in the Shigar Valley; Hyderabad, Testun, Dassu, Net Tahirabad, and Goyungo in the Shigar area; Appu Aligund, Fuljo, Braldu, Bashu, and Karma in central Baltistan; and the Khaplu and Siachen area (Gaanshai) in Ghanche District. Nagar District also produces aquamarine alongside topaz and garnet. The 2019 discovery of the "King of Kashmir" aquamarine specimen at Biangsapi Gon mine in Goyungo, next to the Braldu River in the Shigar Valley, put Pakistani aquamarine on front pages globally — it was one of the largest and most flawless gem aquamarine specimens ever found. All aquamarine in this region forms in pegmatite veins associated with granite intrusions throughout the Karakoram range.

Topaz in multiple color varieties is documented across Gilgit Baltistan. Golden topaz of high quality is found at Testun, Dassu, Net Tahirabad, and Goyungo in the Shigar area. Golden and white topaz also come from the Gilgit-Hunza-Shigar belt, with the Shengus-Stak Nala-Tormiq Nala corridor producing additional material. Childee, Kashmal, and Yuno in the Shigar Valley add to total output. The rough crystals found in the GB pegmatites are often impressively large and inclusion-free, highly suitable for precision faceting. Topaz from this region also occurs in Chilas (Diamer district) alongside alluvial diopside, zircon, rutile quartz, and tourmaline — the alluvial Chilas deposits carrying many minerals downstream from higher-altitude pegmatite formations above.

The Hunza Valley of Gilgit Baltistan produces pink to red corundum crystals classified in the ruby color range. The ruby-bearing host rocks are part of the Baltit group sequence in the Karakoram metamorphic belt, hosted in marble formations similar to the Mogok mines of Burma. Specific documented workings include Ganesh, Aliabad, Hachinder, Gupa Nala, and Dhorkan — with Dhorkan the southernmost. Red spinel occurs alongside ruby in the same marble-hosted deposits — many historically famous "rubies" in royal collections were in fact spinels from this exact geological setting. Additional ruby and related minerals (garnet, tourmaline, aquamarine, diopside, emerald, topaz) are also documented from the Appu Aligund, Fuljo, Braldu, Bashu, and Karma area in central Baltistan.

The Gilgit district (Sassi, Haramosh-Dassu, and Khataro areas) produces garnet in the almandine variety alongside morganite, amazonite, and associated pegmatite minerals. Most garnet specimens from these sites are sold under the loose designation "near Dassu" or "Haramosh" in the collector market — few are precisely pin-pointed to individual mines. Morganite (pink beryl) is documented from Gilgit, Shigar, the Shigar Proper area, and the Childee-Kashmal-Yuno belt. Pargasite — a rare calcium sodium magnesium amphibole found in association with the marble-hosted ruby deposits — also occurs in the Gilgit-Hunza area. Pollucite, a rare cesium-bearing mineral, is documented from the Gilgit and Shigar pegmatites. Zoisite and epidote come from Shigar Proper near Skardu.

K2 jasper is one of Pakistan's most distinctive and internationally sought-after gemstones — a white azurite granite found only at the base of K2, the world's second highest mountain. The stone is immediately recognizable by its white granite matrix interrupted by vivid blue azurite orbs, sometimes with green malachite. Because the mining site is at extreme altitude and the terrain is exceptionally difficult, supply is genuinely limited. Community disputes near the extraction sites have further constrained supply in recent years, driving prices sharply upward. It has developed a strong collector market internationally and represents one of the few Pakistani gemstones with a truly global brand recognition.

Lazulite — a bright blue to deep azure magnesium iron phosphate mineral of extreme global rarity — is documented from the Laila Mine in Skardu, situated in an area considered geologically exceptional for its diverse gem-quality deposits. Pakistan's Laila Mine is one of the few commercially accessible lazulite sources in the world. Amethyst (purple quartz) occurs in Khaplu in the Ghanche District — the Gaanshai area near the Siachen glacier — alongside fine golden rutile quartz. This district lies in the extreme northeast of Gilgit Baltistan, bordering the Karakoram close to the Line of Control.

Gemstones Found in Azad Kashmir (AJK)

Gemstones Found in Balochistan

Balochistan is Pakistan's primary source of commercial jasper in red, black, and lilac varieties. Red jasper from the province has strong export demand to China, where red stones carry deep cultural significance. Fluorite occurs here in purple, green, and multicolor varieties — the Loralai district in particular is recognized in the international mineral specimen community for museum-quality cubic fluorite crystals of exceptional color and form.

Kharan district in western Balochistan produces brookite and anatase alongside quartz. Both are titanium dioxide minerals and rare collector's specimens — brookite in particular is prized for its complex crystal habits. The Kharan deposits represent one of the few Pakistani sources of these minerals outside the northern mountain belt.

The Chaman area near Quetta is documented as a source of several distinctive quartz varieties: diamond quartz (water-clear crystals of exceptional transparency), window quartz (thin tabular crystals with flat faces), quartz on prehnite base (a mineral association prized by collectors), and faden quartz included by chlorite (where crystals display a characteristic white thread running through them). These are commercially niche but have consistent international collector demand.

Gwadar on the Arabian Sea provides access to the oyster and mollusk populations whose shells yield mother of pearl (nacre) — an organic gem material prized across Islamic, Chinese, and European decorative traditions. The copper belt of Balochistan, particularly in the Chagai district, also contains copper-associated minerals: malachite (green), azurite (blue), chrysocolla (blue-green) — all with historic and contemporary use in jewelry and decorative carving.

Shop Pakistani Gemstones Online

Every stone sourced directly from the regions in this guide.

At Orah, we buy directly from miners in the valleys described above — no Bangkok middlemen, no Thai cutting houses. When we say Swat emerald or Skardu aquamarine, that is the verified origin, confirmed through years of fieldwork across KPK and Gilgit Baltistan.

Swat Emeralds Skardu Aquamarine Nephrite Jade Gilgit Garnet View All Gemstones →

Written by Anosh Bin Suhail  Co-founder, Orah Jewels & Crafts

12 years of direct gemstone sourcing fieldwork across KPK, Gilgit Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, and Balochistan. Former industry participant in Pakistan's national gemstone sector policy process. All location data reflects personal sourcing relationships with miners across the regions described.