Moonstone Mine: Meetiyagoda

The village of Meetiyagoda near Ambalangoda, is where moonstone is most commonly found, concentrated within an acre of land. believed to have been blessed by the moon.

The beautiful island of Sri Lanka, and home of the highest quality moonstone in the world, lies in the Indian Ocean just off the southern tip of India itself. Gem deposits in Sri Lanka can be divided into two types – the more abundant ‘sedimentary’ deposits caused by the weathering actions of wind and water, and the less common primary deposits found within the bedrock itself. One of the best-known primary gem deposits in Sri Lanka is the large pegmatite vein of moonstone at Meetiyagoda, a small village a few miles from the coast in the south-west of the island. The village boasts 10 mines which have been the most important source for top quality blue moonstone since it was discovered here in 1906. Moonstone, the most valuable of the feldspars is a sodium potassium aluminium silicate.