Gemstone few as one in a million atoms. These so-called impurities are sufficient to absorb certain colors and leave the other colors unaffected. For example, beryl, which is colorless in its pure mineral form, becomes emerald with chromium impurities. If manganese is added instead of chromium, beryl becomes pink morganite. With iron, it becomes aquamarine. Some gemstone treatments make use of the fact that these impurities can be "manipulated", thus changing the color of the gem. Gemstones are often treated to enhance the color or clarity of the stone. Depending on the type and extent of treatment, they can affect the
Gemstones of Pakistan to their report, 29759 tons of quartz was produced in Mohmand agency in 2003-2004. However, the gemstone sector in the region is not developed and many resources have not been properly identified and exploited. The three mountain ranges of Gilgit-Baltistan; Himalayas, Hindukush, and Karakoram contain many minerals and gems including emerald, ruby, sapphire, aquamarine, moonstone, and amethyst. A number of other minerals are also found in the region such as peridot, tourmaline, topaz, garnet, red spinal, pargasite, diopside, sphene, apatite, azurite, rose quartz, and agate. In Swat, pale green to green coloured emeralds can be found in talc-carbonate schist. In