The 1990 U.S. output of natural gemstones was primarily from Tennessee, California, Arizona, Arkansas, Montana, Nevada, and Maine.
An estimated 80,000 visitors found a total of 315 carats of diamonds in the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. There were sizeable yields of freshwater pearls in Tennessee, turquoise in Arizona and Nevada, tourmaline in Maine, and tourmaline, kunzite, and garnet in California.
Gemstones: Value of U.S. production vs. imports, 1986 and 1989[1]
| Production | 1986 | 1989 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natural | $9.3 | million | $43.0 | million[2] |
| Synthetic | 10.3 | 23.5 | ||
| $19.6 | $66.5 | |||
| Mine employment | 300 | 800 | ||
| Imports for consumption: | $4.18 | billion | $5.00 | billion |
| Apparent reliance on imports over exports[3] | 99% | 98% |
[1]Estimated.
[2]Including freshwater pearls natural, and cultured.
[3]Imports - exports + adjustments for Government and industry stock changes. Source: Mineral Commodity Summaries, 1991, U.S. Bureau of Mines.
U.S. production of commercial gems includes agate, beryl, freshwater pearl, garnet, jade, jasper, mother-of-pearl, opal, peridot, quartz, sapphire, tourmaline, and turquoise.