QuoteMiners dig in a sapphire mine on September 12, 2008 near the southwestern Madagascan town of Ilakaka (background). The mushrooming town of Ilakaka, which in October 1998 saw a major influx of illegal miners who came in search of fortune after the discovery of a large sapphire deposit. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images) #

QuoteA worker takes a close look at a sapphire at a local precious stone business in the Ilakaka, Madagascar on September 13, 2008. Local miners in the region work deep narrow holes where they scrape gravel and sand in search of sapphires and fortune. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images) #

QuoteMiners sift gravel in their makeshift strainers in a river basin in their search for sapphires on September 14, 2008 in Anzanakaro near Ilakaka, Madagascar. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/Getty Images) #