The Extraction and Classification of Raw Amber

The number of fossil resins known to science is constantly growing and according to various sources ranges from 150 to 320, depending on whether a given resin is considered to be an independent type or a variety of types which were classified earlier. The term amber has become synonymous with fossil resin (which basically refers to any fossil resin over 1 million years old) towards the end of the 20th century so we have many ‘ambers’ in the broad sense of the word. Most of them are of no economic value because of their being unfit for processing or their scarcity.
Baltic amber (succinite) has dominated in processing for millennia because of its having the greatest reserves, the scale of its extraction, but most of all thanks to its unique beauty and the possibility of employing many processing methods and a wide range of uses. In practice, other resins such as gedanite, gedano-succinite and glessite, which occur together with succinite in deposits and accumulations, are subject to the same kinds of processing. These resins are classified according to the same principles as succinite.

The classification of other fossil resins, broadly construed as ambers, extracted in areas far away from the Baltic-Dnieper geological province and also suitable for use as an artistic material or gemstone, is subject to completely different rules.
Dominican amber, which played a certain role in trade with European countries in 1970-1985, ceased to appear on the world market when a legal ban was imposed on its exports from the Dominican Republic. Extracted with primitive methods, Mexican amber never found its way to commercial trade except for collectors’ items. The supply of the Italian simetite is even poorer.
Burmite lost its market significance almost 100 years ago, while Saravac amber, although extracted in enormous amounts (2,000 – 5,000 tonnes per annum), is visually unattractive. Interest in rumenite has faded away and today it is of no importance to processing or the market.
It is therefore worthwhile to focus on succinite, especially on the systems of its assessment and use in the economy and art. These systems differ in principle from a mineralogical description of varieties and refer to the demand on local markets and in international trade.

Extraction

The majority of the current yield of raw Baltic amber comes from strip mines: Primorskaya in the settlement of Yantarny on the Sambia Peninsula in the Kaliningrad Oblast of the Russian Federation and a Ukrainian strip mine in the Volyhn region on the PUGACH deposit in Klesovo.
Quite intensive illegal extraction of amber from shallow deposits it the area of these mines has been going on for a long time. This has very significant, perhaps even decisive impact on the supply and prices of raw amber on the local market and in neighbouring countries, especially in Poland and Lithuania.
What was once the most important source of Baltic amber: collecting on beaches and fishing out from the sea (hence the name) has diminished in importance. However, the best varieties of the raw material are obtained in this way along the Baltic coast from the mouth of the Vistula to the Lithuanian-Latvian border (mainly in the Vistula and Kuron Sandbars). In good years, up to 5% of the total yield comes from there.
Raw amber rinsed from under the sediments of the Vistula River Delta, deposited on former beaches and shallow lagoons, has got identical properties as amber from the sea. Currently, the legal operation of this source of raw amber has been stopped due to the strict environmental protection requirements of the European Union and it is now rinsed only illegally. In spite of this, the yield is greater than that of the amber collected on the seacoast i.e. 7 – 8% of the total supply.
The digging of amber during investment woks in post-glacial areas is of scant economic significance. In Poland, certain amounts are regularly obtained from the overburden in brown coal strip mines (mainly in Beùchatów). It is an interesting phenomenon that very large nuggets, cobbles with a characteristically intensely red weathered layer are found in shallow aggregate mines (we know of a number of recently discovered nuggets over 3 kg each).

The Classification of the Kaliningrad Amber Factory
The classification set by the z Kaliningrad Amber Factory plc mining enterprise in Yantarny is of the greatest practical significance. The company was formed out of the separation of the Soviet state-owned enterprise, which was the de facto monopolist on the global raw amber market for 50 years after World War II, into an extraction and a processing part (the processing was taken over by Juvielirprom ZSA).
Today, following the flooding of the most productive and profitable extraction department called Plazhevoy Uchastok, the extraction yields have fallen about fourfold compared with the 1990s, which has led to a shortage of raw amber on the global market.
As a result, the company introduced varieties earlier considered to be waste to its commercial classification (varieties which are irregular, layered, porous as a result of detritus contamination and of very fine granulation). However, the primary classification principle according to the unit weight of the nuggets was retained, with the exception of the smallest fractions where the weighing of nuggets is very difficult, (the mesh of the sieves here is finer than in the sorting plant - 16, 14, 11.5 and 6 mm).
The classification forms the basis for the setting of transaction prices, which, however, can fluctuate depending on the contract with the customer. Nuggets heavier than 500 g are not subject to the commercial classification as they are considered natural specimens. The following basis weights are the thresholds of the remaining weight brackets:
300, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5 grams.
Nuggets which are of full value in terms of their suitability for processing are called jewellery material and appraised the highest. Less suitable nuggets, irregular, contaminated or cracked are designated as “souvenir (suvienirniye)” appraised at a price about 30% lower than the jewellery material of the same basis weight. Next we have “dark amber” at a 50% discount and layered nuggets cheaper by 70%. Fine raw amber up to 16 mm is not selected according to the above qualitative features. In total, the classification covers 32 items.

The Ukrainian classification is not based on the basis weight of individual nuggets, but on their sizes and shapes. The classification was established by the Ukrainian State Gemmological Centre in Kiev. It provides for 5 basic sizes:
1. Unique nuggets: over 100 mm long
2. Large nuggets: over 50 mm long
3. Medium nuggets: over 25 mm long
4. Small nuggets: over 10 mm long
5. Fine grains: smaller than 10 mm
In total, however, the classification table covers 81 items, as all nuggets larger than 10 mm are divided into 4 types of shape, and a further division into 4 colours gives us 16 different qualifications in each basic size.
The highest value is attributed to forms which are close to regular, with smooth surfaces without bulges or caving, with a ratio of the smallest dimension (thickness or width) to the largest of no less than 0.75. In terms of colour, the most highly valued are: in transparent amber – red, greenish-lemon, azure-greenish-yellow; in semi-transparent amber – greenish-lemon; furthermore, opaque – white with a green or azure tint. Least valued are: forms which are very irregular, complex, random, crooked, with a layered structure. Cracked or porous surface. Deep cracks or bulges and cavities. Ratio of the smallest dimension to the largest of less than 0.15. Transparent amber with impurities, semi-translucent or opaque grey-brown, grey or dark amber, heavily contaminated by a large number of inclusions of various sizes.
The Ukrainian classification, although difficult in practical use, contributes very pertinent elements to the qualitative assessment of raw amber. However, it has no practical influence on the selection or commercial prices, as the Ukraine does not run export sales.

In Poland, the classification of raw amber is based on the recommendations of the Experts. It covers 11 categories of amber suitable for jewellery use, ranked according to the nuggets’ unit weight. Nuggets weighing over 1,000 grams remain unclassified as natural specimens. The brackets of successive commercial categories are as follows: 1,000, 500, 300, 200, 100, 60, 40, 10, 5, 1, 0.5 and under 0.5 grams. An appraisal quoted in trade publications as 100% refers to raw amber from the sea. Material extracted from mines in Sambia is appraised at 10% less, while that from Volyhn and post-glacial accumulations at 15% less (due to the greater degree of weathering).
The Polish classification also includes two qualitative categories which are independent of nugget weight: layered nuggets and nuggets with considerable organic impurities.
The classification determines the ratio of the value of large and small nuggets. The primary category are nuggets weighing 1 - 5 g, as the most common ones on the market. In comparison with them, nuggets weighing over 200 g are 10 times more expensive, while nuggets weighing over 500 g - about 18 times. Large discounts are given for raw amber with properties similar to those described as least valuable in the Ukrainian classification.

Lithuanian amber jewellers use basically the Russian raw amber classification, which is the result of both their close proximity to Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast and the long-term operation of a branch of the Kaliningrad Amber Factory in Druskininkai.

Formally speaking, the strictest legal rigor in amber classification exists in the Federal Republic of Germany. The Act of the Bundestag of 9 March 1974 confirmed (and even considerably raised, to a DM 10,000 fine) the criminal liability for the forging of amber or the sale of imitations as genuine amber, which was passed by the Reichstag as early as in 1933.
The German law specified the following rules:
§ 1
The word amber or any other compound word which includes the word amber or a trademark with the word amber can refer in trade only to natural amber or a product made of natural amber without imitating additions.
§ 2
Only the first seller has the right to specify the raw material as amber; only the manufacturer has the right to mark a product as an amber product. The person who performs the labelling must attach their exact details: their name, company name or the trademark of the registered product.
§ 3
Anyone who wilfully fails to comply with the regulations of paragraphs 1 and 2 or complies with them negligibly is in breach of the law. Any act contrary to these regulations may be fined up to DM 10,000.

It seems, however, that this law is dead and the sale of imitations (for instance copal) as amber has a very large share on the German market. Most German companies do not require sufficient documentation of the genuineness of amber when importing it.

Illegal extraction, smuggling and black economy trading