Cempaka Diamond Digging Borneo

Cempaka Diamonds & Martapura Gem Stone Market

South Kalimantan Province of Indonesia Borneo Island is famous of it's diamonds traditional mining.
Martapura is the capital of the Banjar regency, 36 kilometers southeast of Banjarmasin. Martapura, Cempaka is a known producer of diamonds.Several mining villages exist at the district of Cempaka, as Lukaas and Sungai Tiung villages. Cempaka is about five kilometers from Martapura Diamond and Stone Market.
The mining holes at Cemapak are usually 6 to 10 meters deep and are propped up with logs to prevent collapsing. As long as no diamonds are found, they dig in a horizontal direction, so that tunnels are formed.
There is no schedule of the Diamond digging, it can start early morning and continue until midnight, under the light of petrol lanterns. Diamond or stone deposits are usually found at depths of 10 to 15 meters. Women are strictly forbidden to step over the digging pits as the rough diamonds are referred "as virgins".
There are four clasification types of Diamonds : petrous diamonds which is yellow and has the lowest quality, black diamonds are believed to posses mystical powers, white diamonds and pink diamonds which are the best sparkling with the colors of a rainbow are the most expensive diamonds.
The most expensive diamond found at the Region of Cempaka was the "Trisakti diamond". It weighed 160 carats and belonged to the pink diamond category.
Diamonds are cut and polished in the Diamond Market of Martapura. Martapura is better known than the sites where the diamonds are found, it has connections withe the international diamond market. That is why Martapura is also known as Borneo Diamond Town. Now-a-days there are several experts in cutting and diamond processing in Martapura.

Cempaka Traditional Diamond Mining Travellers Information