Sapphires from the Andranondambo mine in SE Madagascar

Main thoroughfare of Andranondambo

Chikayama (1989) refers to various deposits of cuttable corundum in the southern part of the island while J.Koivula et al. (1992) were the first to mention a source of multicoloured sapphire southwest of Betroka. The recently discovered new deposits of pale to saturated blue sapphire are situated in the southeastern part of the Province Toliara, near the village of Andranondambo, approximately 100 km north-northeast of Fort Dauphin.

Obviously, this area brings to light very high yields so that commercially interesting quantities are being produced. Actually, this source is probably the first large deposit of cuttable sapphire on Malagasy. Consequently, at least three mining companies (a Swiss, a Thai, and a Joint venture enterprise) were founded to excavate and market the sapphires.