Mine Hunters

Mine Hunters is an American documentaryseries which aired on National Geographic. The series premiered on January 19, 2016.

Renowned gem hunter Guy Clutterbuck is on a mission to find the world’s most precious gems. To do this, he has assembled a specialist squad; an Aussie miner, an American engineer, an American gold prospector and explosives expert, and a British ex-Army mechanic. Together they’ll travel to the farthest reaches of the globe to source small scale gem mines that produce rubies, emeralds, sapphires and all manners of precious stones. But gem mining has a shady reputation so Guy and his team plan to do things differently. They will find ethical mines, and working alongside the local miners, they’ll combine their Western know-how with local knowledge to find these precious rough gems that the team can then buy, cut and sell for a profit. This is a high-stakes gem hunt that could make them, and the local communities working with them, a lot of money. Each mission is high risk, full of real life jeopardy and extreme environments. From the muddy pit mines of Madagascar and the spectacular emerald rich mountain caves of Colombia to the barren Arctic landscape of Greenland where blood red rubies spill across the rocky wasteland, the team will take on the elements, terrain, and even each other on their epic mission – crucially putting their own money and reputations on the line. Using Guy’s extensive connections, built up across 30 years of sourcing and selling gems around the world, in each episode the team will be after a specific precious gem whether the Arctic Ruby that can only be mined in summer in Greenland once the ice sheet has melted away to reveal them in the rocks, the Zambian Amish Emerald, a rare crystal as pure and clear as water, or the Padparadscha Sapphire of Sri Lanka, a legendary gem that adorns Maharaja’s crowns and that is so rare it has to be lab tested to prove it has the specific types and amount of colours to qualify for the name. But only an ethically run mine will do. It’s a business model Guy is proud of. Not only does his team of Western miners help a local community by making a small scale mine more efficient and more ethical, but selling a precious gem with an ethical provenance can fetch more money. It’s a win-win... but it comes at a cost. Each mine hunt will stretch the team to their physical and emotional limits, risking lives and battling odds, just to find a single stone that could make their fortune.