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NARRATOR: On this episode,
the gem hunters take on Mozambique...
Too much. Too much.
Too much. Too much.
Too much price.
NARRATOR: ...and almost lose the fight.
RON: It's kind of stupid to be doing this.
I got to take the chance.
NARRATOR: There's a mountain of gems to be had...
RON: An unbelievable, beautiful package of aqua.
I've never seen material so nice as this.
NARRATOR: ...but they're hidden in the shifting sands
of a gem underworld...
Oh, he said no camera.
...that will put Ron, Diane, and Bernie under the gun.
Every day, every day.
Yeah!
NARRATOR: Ron LeBlanc is a gem hunter.
He knows that every precious jewel on Earth
is born the same way.
They're found.
They're bargained for.
They are transformed.
I take a rough stone like this. I cut and polish it.
I turn it into a stone like this.
NARRATOR: With a team of professionals by his side,
Ron travels to treacherous corners of the world
in search of pay dirt.
This is worth $2,000.
This is worth 30,000 bucks.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
NARRATOR: Mozambique, in southeast Africa, is famous for its gems.
The Mozambican ruby may be about to surpass the Burmese ruby
as the best ruby on Earth.
The glowing green of Mozambique's Paraíba tourmaline
is also world-famous,
and Ron and Diane have seen Mozambican aquamarine
in the international market
that is the bluest they have ever seen.
As a gem hunter, you got to come to Mozambique.
This place has tons of stones.
It has that beautiful Paraíba electric-blue tourmaline.
It has deep-blue aquamarine, almost like Santa Maria,
that kind of sapphire-blue aquamarine.
Fantastic.
But for me, it has ruby.
NARRATOR: Ron, Diane, and Bernie have come to Mozambique without investors.
On this exploratory trip,
they will stake their own money and take all the risk.
Diane Robinson, the team's jewelry expert,
wants nothing but the best blue aqua she has ever seen.
Aquamarine is one of my favorite stones,
and it's one of my top-selling stones.
And I've seen some stunning aqua from Mozambique.
It's deep, it's blue.
The color is so rich, it's like the ocean behind me.
NARRATOR: The pale-blue aquamarine is Diane's number-one stone.
It's the sister stone to emerald,
but different coloring agents turn it blue instead of green.
For Bernie, the team's geologist and stonecutter,
the field is wide-open.
There's been rubies discovered here
that can rival the best in Myanmar.
There's aquamarine to rival
the fabled Santa Maria of Brazil,
and there's Paraíba-like tourmaline,
also like the stuff that they get out of Brazil.
I'm in line for any one of those three.
I'd love to acquire all three.
NARRATOR: But the price has to be right.
If the price is too high, Bernie won't buy.
If the price is low, she's a go.
NARRATOR: But succeeding in this difficult country
is going to be a challenge.
The gem world has known for years
that the east-African country of Mozambique
is sitting on one of the richest deposits of gemstones on Earth.
But decades of civil war,
lawlessness, and corrupt governments
have put the gem hunt on hold.
It's still considered to be the most dangerous country
to hunt gems,
more dangerous that Afghanistan,
but the gem hunters aren't waiting any longer.
Ron, Diane, and Bernie have come to get their rocks
and, hopefully, get out with their skins intact.
RON: It's very, very interesting. I'm very, very glad we're here.
I'm thrilled as a gem hunter to do Mozambique,
but I hope it doesn't do me, you know, us.
I think we better watch ourselves, you know?
This is a country -- It's a, you know --
In 1994, at the end of a 16-year civil war,
there's a lot of guns, apparently.
Apparently, it's a...
DIANE: Well, they have a Kalashnikov on their flag.
The gem hunters are in the Mozambican beachside town
of Pemba,
at the heart of Mozambique's ruby mining,
but their destination is inland and south to Nampula,
where few dealers are brave enough to go
and better deals are said to be had.
Before they do anything, the gem hunters need to
turn their U.S. dollars into local money.
Ron has few contacts in Mozambique,
but a friend of a friend has put him in touch
with a fix-it man that sorts out problems for a price.
Instead of using an alleyway,
Ron wants this deal to be as public as possible
to make it safer for him and the team.
Milton, how are you, my man?
Yeah, good.
How'd we do?
Did you get my scratch?
Yes, everything's sorted out.
I've got 6,000 grand.
And the price is the 31 we talked about?
Yeah, I'm making an exception for you.
Okay.
All right, okay. All right.
Good work.
Of course, man.
Twice?
No. Three times.
Three times? [ Laughs ]
All right, Milton, see you on the "B" side, man.
All right.
NARRATOR: Their next stop is with a dealer named Akimo,
a source of intel and maybe stones.
Ron is on edge
because the Gemological Institute of America,
or GIA,
has strongly warned him off Mozambique.
Well, you know, we're supposed to meet this guy -- Akimo.
Apparently, he's got all the intel here about the stones,
maybe the import/export stuff, the other stuff we're --
Remember?
I wanted you guys to take note and be vigilant
because that gem expert from GIA,
he said we shouldn't go here,
we should go to a calm place like Afghanistan.
Yes.
Oh, good. Oh.
NARRATOR: Akimo is a gemstone wholesaler,
so he sits between the miners and the dealers,
adding his markup with every deal.
RON: Oh, that's nice, then.
Yes.
Let's see some stone. Come on, come on.
I got --
Clean, clean.
Clean, clean stone.
No, we don't want this.
And, indeed, he had some stones,
and it was our first foray into price and variety
and quality.
The color -- beautiful green.
Now, remember, you don't like the green tourmaline, Diane?
Have a look at that green.
DIANE: No, no, that's a nice green.
You know, on the table, we saw aquamarine.
Not good enough for us.
You see, before you pour it out --
Hang on, hang on.
No, not interested in this.
We saw a ruby not big enough for us.
This is our -- Ah-ha!
Oh!
At least we're seeing something.
NARRATOR: To find out what kind of gem prices
they'll face in Mozambique,
Ron asks for the selling price of everything on the table.
So, how much for this? How much for this, best price?
Huh?
How much for this, best price?
AKIMO: All this? $20,000.
Yes, dollars.
U.S. dollars?
DIANE: What?
Whoa.
So, by the time you cut it, and you've got 5,000 carat into it.
This is ridiculous.
Yeah, that's crazy.
RON: So, it's around $4,000 per gram.
$4,000 U.S. per gram?
Yeah.
'Cause you go that times U.S. --
Cheaper in Burma, cheaper in Burma.
Okay.
Everything is too high. Nothing good.
Too much.
Too much, too much, too much, and funny.
Too much price. Too high.
It's too high.
You're trying to get too high a price.
BERNIE: You know, whenever you show up in these countries,
you're looked upon as a dope.
They're reading us for people with money and no brains.
Right here, this office, too expensive for us.
Now, maybe not for you.
For Mozambique, the stone is very fair.
Yeah. I say we must go.
Absolutely outrageous.
Have a look at those cars back there.
Look at the BMW, this stuff. Prices are outrageous.
A lot of bull[bleep] on that tray.
Yeah.
Let's get hunting.
If we're gonna get the stones,
the best place is always to go to the source,
so we're heading to Nampula.
We're gonna try to head to the mines
and actually buy some stones from some local people.
NARRATOR: Nampula lies at the heart of Mozambique's gem trade.
From Pemba, it's a drive of 215 miles over rough roads.
DIANE: The roads here are absolutely horrific.
It's like driving over washboards.
We're in the car for hours.
RON: It is taking six or seven hours,
and, apparently, election times, there's a lot of bridges out,
but there are a lot of detours
and many things that mar our journey.
It's grueling, but we get there in a long day's grueling ride.
NARRATOR: Nampula is a dusty African city of half a million people.
This is a city
where a truckful of secondhand clothes draws a crowd,
but Nampula is surrounded by gem mines.
When a city is rich with gems but the people are poor,
it's a sure sign of endemic corruption and crooked dealers.
RON: I'm really sensing a little bit of aggression, so...
Yeah.
DIANE: You know, it's not like in Tanzania.
Have you seen that?
Like, in Tanzania, it was kind of sweet,
everyone's talking Swahili.
No, no.
This is rougher and tougher.
Yeah.
I wonder why.
I don't know.
I think it's because the civil war.
It might be the vestiges of the war. That's what I think.
Yeah, I think so.
NARRATOR: Ron, Diane, and Bernie
are on their way to meet their first dealer.
A contact named Jibi from Bangkok
has arranged for them to deal directly with Muhammad,
the head of a local gem cartel.
But the wheeling and dealing begins
before they can even lay eyes on each other.
Muhammad is demanding an enormous fee
to allow the gem hunters and the cameras to come inside.
NARRATOR: The gem hunters are in Nampula, Mozambique,
on the hunt for stones,
but this dealer wants to cut a deal
before the rocks have even hit the table.
He tells their producer he wants a $6,000 fee
before Ron, Diane, and Bernie
can do business with him in front of a camera.
When you come to here...
Don't get job only for nothing.
You can't manage that, to work for nothing, no.
MAN: You would be the first people that I would ever pay.
RON: And it seems to be a long wait,
and we're getting runners back and forth
saying there's issues inside.
These guys are talking about broker fees.
They want us to pay some fees for shooting,
and it's just a bunch of [bleep] and bull[bleep]
I'm really getting quite aggravated.
DIANE: There's no way we're gonna put up with this,
and we're certainly not gonna pay a $6,000 location fee.
RON: And so it takes a long, long time.
Eventually, we didn't even make it inside.
I get aggravated. I say, "The hell with it!"
I want to get out of there.
Well, no sooner do we get back to the hotel,
then we get a phone call from Jibi and the boys.
They've decided to drop the $6,000 location fee,
they've invited us to come back for free,
and they say they want to show us some stones
and they want to do business.
I got a contact here called Jibi.
He's giving me the heebie-jeebie-jeebies.
I think he's giving me the heebie-jeebies, too.
Anyways, a bit of a hiccup earlier on,
some brokerage fee bull[bleep]
That kind of agitated us,
but I think we're gonna see some fine stuff, so, we'll see.
Anyways...How you doing? Ron. Pleasure.
All right, how are you?
All right, pleasure.
The problem is, Ron is already angered.
We haven't even got into the dealings,
and I can see that Ron's percolating.
All right, let's see what you've got.
Let's let the show begin.
You guys have to welcome in this country.
Please.
What do we got to do? We're gonna pray?
Yeah, pray for Diane, please.
NARRATOR: Sharing a prayer before the gem dealing begins
could be a sign that everybody at this table
would like to put the argument behind them,
and Ron is conscious that, in Mozambique,
violence is never far away.
So, his temper must be kept in check.
You know, they started with a prayer. I don't mind that.
I don't mind that. Inshallah.
I do my little prayer myself. I follow the rituals.
Amen.
All right, let's see the product.
How's that?
DIANE: What about the color? Okay, do you have a darker blue?
Okay.
Because I've heard that Mozambique
is a really dark color blue.
Sometimes.
This is very --
I am tell you is really difficult for that color.
That's rare. The dark color's rare.
To find the big pieces is very difficult.
Only the facts.
Yeah.
Because by chipping it,
just make it looking...
All right, so what is the price, my colleague?
What is the price?
Dollar by gram.
NARRATOR: The dealer wants almost $500
for this pound of uncut aquamarine.
It's not worth that much,
and the gem hunters don't want a part of it.
No, that's crazy.
MUHAMMAD: Not like that.
When the business is on the table, you have to negotiate.
Muhammad has just told Ron he has to make an offer
whether he wants the rocks or not.
No, absolutely not.
What the [bleep] are you talking about?
This is on the table to negotiate.
We'll negotiate if we want the price.
You're at $125. You start too high.
We're not interested.
If you start that high, we're not interested, all right?
And I do a lot of business around the world, so...
Get to a price straight.
He has unmitigated audacity.
He puts down this overpriced, muttered goods,
he tells me an outrageous price,
and I say I don't want it,
and he says I have to make a bid on it.
I knew that was it.
Soon as he told Ron how to do business,
it was over.
I do it the way I do mine.
NARRATOR: These guys have been jerking Ron's chain,
and he knows that if he doesn't make them dance to his tune,
he'll never get the kind of deal he wants.
So, he's gonna make them scramble
to get any of his gem business.
Where's Jibi?
Start realistic, we negotiate,
or take it off the table, and we go.
There's other places to go, okay?
Yes.
Business is not like that, my friend.
Not good enough, not good enough.
Well, you could come back and tell them something.
Jibi just come down.
No, but it's not enough. It's too high still.
It's too high. We don't want it.
Do you got something else?
Or we finished the business? Okay, we do?
Okay. Okay.
Don't start high with me, or there's no business.
NARRATOR: Another dealer steps up to the table,
and now Ron has got him nervous.
Why not?
DIANE: [ Laughs ]
One gram.
And you did.
And you did.
Congratulations. You gave us a high price.
How can you sell this for $150?
If I told you what I bought it, you can believe me?
I don't care.
Thank you.
I don't care what you bought it for.
Okay, now, how many you offer?
I just care what the price is.
Give you offer, no problem.
Well, when you go this high, I cannot make an offer.
I'm not used to going --
It's too high from the mountain, you know?
I don't want to waste any more time here.
I don't want to waste any more time.
I have some people to call.
You really got to set the rules.
When you're in the fighting cage, you got to set the rules.
I want those guys to know that I'm a dog.
If they want to treat me like a dog,
I'm gonna bite them like a dog,
and I wanted to get him on his back foot.
This is negotiation.
DIANE: Yeah.
This is acting, Diane, the game, as you know.
But I think we've got to also remember,
when we're in a different country,
we can get, you know, all heated in discussing,
but we're in a country whose symbol on the flag is the AK-47.
So, we maybe don't need to be screaming and yelling at them
so vehemently.
Not good enough, not good enough.
NARRATOR: The gem hunters have given up
on any idea of dealing with Muhammad,
the head of a local gem cartel
who has the power to put the gem hunt on ice.
I don't want to waste any more time here.
After a few more meetings with dealers,
they are close to giving up on Nampula and possibly Mozambique.
A late-night mission to see a dealer with a sapphire
holds promise.
I got to take the chance, so I'm running off.
He's gonna meet me at some car park somewhere.
It's kind of stupid to be doing to this.
I got to take the chance.
NARRATOR: Without Diane and Bernie, Ron is left to his own devices
and no second chance of getting it right.
Oh, hello, how are you?
Good.
Ron. Ron.
Okay, and you want to buy good stone.
Yeah, I want a good stone, yeah.
It's coming in 10 gram.
10 gram? Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa.
It's good, if you want to look.
Let's have a look. Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa.
It's a huge blue sapphire.
Ron knows this is a rare find.
Oh, that's not bad color.
$6,000.
$6,000? For the stone? For the total stone?
Yeah, by gram, yes.
By gram?
Yeah. It's good.
$6,000 a gram?
$6,000.
$60,000 for this?
$60,000, yeah.
It's good, yeah?
No. That price, that price.
It's a good stone, yeah, beautiful stone,
but there's a little bit inclusion.
I can't even start with that. I can't start with that.
$60,000 U.S. dollars is way too much for this stone.
What's the real price?
How much?
$5,000, $5,000.
$5,000.
...a gram?
Per gram, yes.
Good price for you.
Geez, I hope this cuts good.
I'll give you $1,000 -- $1,000 a gram.
Oh, you crazy.
$5,000.
Ron's trying to pick the stone up for 10,000 grand U.S.
No. It's good price.
Can't pay that.
Good price, you know, though.
Good price. You must come my way again.
No, I can't do that. You must get better than that.
I'll give you $1,500.
$1,500.
No, no, no, no, no.
You better take it.
No.
I like the stone, but I have a budget.
Yeah, I know.
I think -- I can't make that in --
I can't make that money in the west.
Give me the final price.
$4,000, $4,000, $4,000, $4,000.
If you want.
No, I'll give you $2,000.
No, no, it's not.
No, no.
All right, all right.
Ron's offer of 20,000 grand for the stone
has fallen on deaf ears.
RON: We haven't seen one good price here,
and that is weird in kind of a new place,
new gems, lots of gems.
Not one damn good price,
But I'm telling you.
we have a shrinking optimism about the whole place,
and it's a bit of a drag
because it is kind of a real gemmiferous place
full of bounty, full of stones, full of beautiful people,
but maybe the...all screwed up.
DIANE: You know, I think before we go,
we should see if we can get those guys back
minus, you know, the toothpick man
and see if they might want to show us their stones without him
and maybe do a deal.
NARRATOR: Diane is talking about Jibi and Al Houssan,
the other gem dealers
who were working with their new archenemy, Muhammad.
I don't like getting angry at anybody,
and I didn't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater,
so I want to talk to this Jibi guy.
I like him. I like his partner.
I like everybody there but this one singular character,
and it's kind of muddying the whole journey scene.
We've now concocted a new plan.
We know that Jibi and Al Houssan seem like great guys,
and they've got some product.
What we have to do is separate them from Mr. Toothpick.
NARRATOR: Ron's unsure of the alliances here in Nampula
and who wields the most power.
So, he's going to turn to Nick the Greek,
one of the biggest colored stone dealers in Africa,
to help him reel Jibi in.
So, I give a call to Nick, and I say,
"For God's sake, press these guys to get at me,
but shake the guy with the toothpick."
Get this Jibi guy, give him a call.
Tell him to bring the best stuff, the best price,
and we can do some stuff.
Shake that Muhammad guy.
All right, I'm counting on you. Lookit.
No, you'll get a piece.
You'll get a piece!
Curiously, what happened is
we're out on the street looking at stuff,
walking to some markets,
and Jibi, this guy, and another friend of his
circle -- They've got their truck there,
and they come by.
I'm thinking, "Oh, this is a fine bit of serendipity,
a little happenstance in our favor,"
and, sure enough, he wants to show me rocks.
Hello! It's my main man! How are you?
RON: I don't want to deal with that guy anymore.
You know? I've dealt with you before.
We randomly ran into Jibi on the street,
and we made an appointment.
We were gonna meet him later that day at 2:00,
you know, at a local restaurant.
So, we go to the restaurant.
We're waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
If they don't show shortly, to hell with them.
Let them chase us down if they want to sell some stuff.
And he doesn't show up,
and we hear from our fixer talking it back and forth,
guess what.
Creature from hell is following them around.
It's toothpick man is following them around,
watching what they're doing.
So, all of a sudden, we've got a great meeting set up,
and it gets canceled because Jibi's too afraid to meet us
'cause he knows that Mr. Toothpick is following him.
Well, this a nuts. We can't do it anymore.
They have to work out their own internal family politics,
and maybe one day somebody's interested in selling a gem,
but it ain't gonna be today.
NARRATOR: The gem hunters are about to give up on Nampula
and head north to hunt rubies,
but they've been invited to the outskirts of town
where a small-time dealer might have some rocks.
Hello. This is my wife.
A lovely wife she is! A nice family, a beautiful family!
NARRATOR: This dealer is selling red tourmaline,
also known as rubellite,
but it has a dark skin on it
that makes it almost impossible to tell what's inside the rock.
BERNIE: This has got a black skin.
See that light coming through the middle?
Yep.
So, it's good color inside, but it's got a black skin.
I tell you what, it's got to be cheap
because the color is not superb.
RON: I'd be a little concerned about this.
Watch that skin.
That skin could follow you all the way to the car.
NARRATOR: The dealer, Isaac's, stones aren't good enough
for the gem hunters to make a profit,
but they stay because he's the friendliest guy
they've met in Mozambique so far.
RON: How much for this little stone for me,
good, good price,
friend, brother, love price,
lover, brother, sister, wife price?
Oh, the wife price.
Yeah, the wife.
Even a beautiful wife, they're too young for you!
How many wife you have?
One?
Yeah, I don't have competition --
two, three, four, no.
[ Laughter ]
Ah, that's a very big responsibility.
It was a great scene, and it was the first time
that I'd seen happiness throughout the whole community.
This mine, they're all happy and giggling, and he was a cool guy.
And it just made me feel better
about the prospects for Mozambique
when they have this kind of bubbling spirit.
NARRATOR: Ron asks him about the ruby mines up north.
Oh, it's closed, the area?
Yeah.
There, it's...every day, every day.
Yeah!
Yes? Every day?
Every day. Every day.
So, I'm gonna get shot every day?
NARRATOR: The ruby mines are Ron's best chance at cutting a good deal
for the high-demand gemstones.
Will he heed the miner's warning?
NARRATOR: Ron LeBlanc has come to Mozambique
in search of its famous rubies.
His only chance for a good deal is close to the ruby mines,
but he's just discovered that the ruby mines
are controlled down the barrel of a gun.
There, it's every day, every day.
Guns?
I still want to get rubies, you know?
I said I wanted to get rubies,
and I don't like to dodge my own ambitions too much,
and I really wanted to see the ruby area.
But he said that it's pretty tough,
and there seems to be a few guns floating around,
and people could get killed.
And so, obviously, it's ratcheted down,
government forces, private things.
The organization is there.
NARRATOR: The question is, what are the gem hunters going to do now?
Every path they've tried in Mozambique
has led to a roadblock.
Thank you.
Oh, boy.
They don't have any stones.
They haven't even been able to negotiate for any stones,
and leaving the country empty-handed is an option
but an expensive one that will jeopardize
the profitability of their next trip.
You should give that guy a banana.
DIANE: That evening, we were back at the hotel,
and I got a call on my room phone.
Someone said they wanted me to come down to the lobby,
so I went down, and it was actually a local miner
who found out what hotel we were at,
said he had a great stone, he wanted us to see it.
So, I took him up to Ron's room.
All right, what the hell's going on?
Ron, I just got a call from a guy,
a guy downstairs.
Called me down to the lobby.
NARRATOR: This miner saw Ron, Diane, and Bernie meeting with Muhammad,
so he's hoping they'll buy his rock.
He wants his identity hidden
so Muhammad and his guys don't know
this miner is backdooring them.
He's out here.
Oh, geez. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
Wait. No camera.
He said no camera.
Yeah, got to be -- Guess he's from -- He's from the --
Well, you know where he's from, so no camera.
Okay.
I own the cameras. No cameras.
Come on in, my friend. They won't show your face.
I think I saw you.
You were running around there.
You saw us out there, right?
I think I saw you in the back row, no?
No, no, no, that's not me. That's not me.
Yeah, all right, all right.
I haven't seen what he's got. I don't know what he has.
All right, you've got something good, or...?
Yes. I got this good Paraíba one.
It's a good, good one.
It's 11 grams for $11,000.
He had an 11.5-gram Paraíba, and I'm thinking, "Oh, my God."
You know, finally the gods have aligned in my favor,
and, you know, it was kind of a magical moment, you know?
And he pulled this thing out.
It was an unbelievable Paraíba tourmaline, fantastic green,
and, you know, it was nice 'cause he was the miner,
he's the guy who got it out of the ground.
He could make the good deal with no brokers.
You're wasting my time. you want this tourmaline?
RON: All right, be patient, my man.
Money, money, money.
Hang on. I can't buy blind.
I don't have enough time for this [bleep]
DIANE: Okay.
Oh, I like his style.
Me either! I don't like [bleep]
NARRATOR: The miner wants 11,000 grand for this Paraíba tourmaline.
That's too high.
Come my way a little bit.
$8,000 -- last price.
Hey, man, it's 11 grams for $8,000.
I know, but I've got some problems there.
I know, but I've got the problem on this. Lookit.
DIANE: Could you make a stone there and then a smaller one there?
I got to cut this out. I got to cut this out.
That piece there, right there.
It is good color, though.
Right there, and there's some problems in there, too.
I'll tell you what I'll pay. I'll do one amount.
One amount -- That's it. That's all I have.
I'll give you $5,000.
Hey.
Finally, at the end, Ron said he'd give him $5,000 U.S. --
a little over $400 a carat --
and that is the right price to pay for that stone.
We weren't sure we were gonna get it, you know,
because, you know, $400 is way down from $2,000.
It's too short.
It's too short. This is a good stone.
I know it's too short. You've come a long way here.
You know, I'm not too sure if it is too short or not.
I don't know the stone too much.
Hey, it's not easy getting this stone.
I know you worked hard at that stone, but lookit.
I didn't fight with this guy. I knew he was honorable.
I could feel it. He's not a weasel.
He wants a good price, he wants to help us,
and he wants long-term business.
All right, shake the hand. Put the phone down.
Okay, give me the money.
Want to give me some love? No?
DIANE: No love, just money. Wow.
Go get the money. Don't tape this guy.
He doesn't want his face on camera.
Beautiful defiled stone for me. It was a monster.
I'm gonna put it in my vault.
I'm gonna find a client very, very quickly,
and it was an iconic stone of Mozambique.
NARRATOR: In addition to the stone,
the miner left something equally valuable for Ron and Diane --
a treasure map that just might lead them
to the riches they are seeking here in Mozambique.
NARRATOR: The gem hunters are stuck between a rock and a hard place
in Mozambique...
Wait. No camera.
...and so far have just one good stone,
but that stone came with a free treasure map
that may lead to riches.
You know, as gem hunters,
getting a treasure map is so exciting.
It's a map that will take us to a location
where there's supposedly, you know,
thousands of artisanal miners, you know, digging up tourmaline.
So, you know, we are so excited.
We've got this treasure map in hand,
we're gonna hit the road, and we are gonna find that mine.
NARRATOR: If the mine is kicking out stones
like the Paraíba tourmaline Ron just bought,
then it could be a game changer.
Supposed to be 1,000 to 5,000 miners out there,
holes dug deep into the ground.
A lot of product coming out, so, anyways, we got to go
because we've been sort of striking out.
And so, anyways, it's not too far -- 72 kilometers away.
Yeah, now we just have to find it.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
'Cause he's telling us we go 72 kilometers
towards the town of Namatil, turn at a bank.
Now, this is where it gets a little sketchy.
We go around three kilometers until we see cashew trees.
Cashew trees.
And then we turn right
and head into the woods for three kilometers.
I tell ya, when you're in the woods,
there's no security, as well.
Let's be a little bit careful.
If a mob happens or something like that,
let's get ready to dash.
Let's be a little cautious here.
Very Indiana Jones, so I put my Indiana Jones hat on, you know?
I may not be as pretty as him, but I've got as much --
I've got as many testicles.
NARRATOR: The drive of almost 50 miles,
guided by a handwritten treasure map on Mozambican roads,
turns out to be a ballbuster.
Oh [bleep]
When did we start? 8:30? It's 1:00 now.
We've been on the road five and a half hours,
and we haven't hit the turn-off for the bank yet.
So, and that's the tricky part.
That could be the unknown part.
Yeah, I was ready to scream uncle, I'll tell you that.
Gem hunting's a lot of fun
until you're on a road for seven hours.
And that's just not any road.
That was the bumpiest, bounciest, hardest road
I've ever been on.
There's always increasing fear you're never going to find it,
but we find the place. And you know what?
It's everything we thought.
It was a really sensational place,
you know, little mining villagers there.
Everybody was kind of happy,
so there's no doubt product's coming.
It's not really organized.
Wow.
Watch for big holes, though.
There's holes in the ground.
Look at this.
Wow!
Wow, we have got ourselves a real mine here.
A very, very big mine, and guess what.
It's producing, and it's producing a lot of stuff.
And stones are coming out, but people are not here.
I'll tell ya, some of the smartest people in the world
are the guys with a simple, simple shovel
in a field in chaos sort of.
It's not real chaos.
They're very, very clever. They find the stones.
NARRATOR: This mine might look busy, but it's the dry season,
a time when few people are mining
because they lack the water to wash the soil away
to reveal gemstones,
but there are still plenty of small gems to be had.
The smaller stones at this mine are perfect for Bernie,
so he's on a buying spree.
It could be his only chance to cover his expenses
and hopefully make a profit.
That's too much.
Uh...
$500.
Check it.
How much?
One, two...
Uh...
...four, six.
Ah!
[ Laughter ]
Come on.
We're finished, we're finished. Thank you, thank you.
RON: All right, let's fly. Good work, Bernie.
Good work. Thank you!
Oh, geez, it's hard getting out of there.
NARRATOR: The treasure map led to plenty of gemstones
but nothing to satisfy Ron's and Diane's desires.
They have two days left, and they're on the rocks.
Ron's ruby and Diane's aquamarine
are nowhere to be seen.
They've given up on Nampula
and are heading back to Pemba in the north
and a meeting with Nick the Greek,
a colored stone heavyweight in Africa.
RON: I don't know how this happened.
Nick shows up,
and he has brought Jibi, his contact.
And not only that --
I don't know how he separated the guy from the toothpick man,
but, you know, maybe all his years in Africa have worked,
it worked, and he ends up showing us rubies,
which were okay --
a little expensive, a little inadequate for me.
Didn't really give me a buzz.
The trouble is, with Nicholas,
sometimes he's a little expensive.
Oh.
And then, Jibi comes over and passes him a package,
an unbelievable beautiful package of aqua,
and I'm thinking, "Well..."
I'm not thinking anymore, I'm so excited.
It is absolutely transportingly beautiful.
God, it's pretty, though.
Never seen material so nice as this.
The whole [bleep] is nice.
Even in Brazil, I've never seen aqua like this.
Nope.
How much for this?
This one --
$100,000.
$100,000?
They say 100,000 grand, and I don't like all those numbers.
That's a lot of zeros, 100,000 grand,
and I'm thinking, "Oh, my God."
I don't where the money's coming from.
I don't have it in my pocket.
This is killing me.
I have finally found the stones I want.
They are almost in my grasp, except for the price.
They want $100,000 for the large bag of stones.
These are fabulous stones.
I want them, but I just can't pay that much money.
But it is the price, the price.
RON: The price is crazy.
There needs to be a better price.
How much pay?
How much pay for this one?
Well, you need to come more this way
because we can't start.
Okay, tell me.
$35,000?
No, no.
No?
$40,000?
$41,000?
[ Laughs ] $42,000? $43,000?
$45,000?
Okay, we can't go any higher.
[ Taps hands ]
$50,000?
No?
Okay, okay, that's it.
We walk, and I begrudgingly walk because what is the best?
What's the worth?
What's the worth of Helen of Troy, of Grace Kelly?
What are the worth of these people?
What is the worth of -- It doesn't have a price!
I think we need that stuff. I love that stuff.
NARRATOR: But Ron sticks to his guns.
We'll talk later.
Okay? Okay, let's go.
Thank you.
The double-blue aqua may be Ron and Diane's last chance
to make a big profit on this trip,
and they have just walked out of the deal.
But a good gem hunter never gives up.
NARRATOR: Ron, Diane, and Bernie are in their last days in Mozambique,
and they are out of luck.
They've just been offered
what might be the best aquamarine on Earth
for 100,000 grand,
a once-in-a-lifetime deal that they can't afford.
Ron is terrible because when he likes a stone,
he just keeps talking, talking, talking about the stone.
He's been doing that to me about the aquamarine.
I already love the aquamarine.
NARRATOR: Diane decides to see if she can convince a client
to help her make this deal work.
Are you in?
[ Chuckles ] I know it's expensive.
I know it's a lot of money,
but what I'm thinking is we could split the package.
Well, there's two bags, and it's for $80,000.
Yeah. [ Laughs ]
I tell ya, you cannot ever, ever dismiss Diane's capacities.
If she wants something, I am telling you, she's like a hyena!
She'll do whatever she has to.
All right, let's look at these figures once again.
We got a calculator.
Well, we know what we're doing.
We're back at the table, so, you know,
we get back in touch with the lovely Jibi
and my dreaded contact, Nick the Greek.
Scary-looking creature if you ever saw one.
DIANE: I like the color Bernie's finding.
You're finding good things.
Maybe -- We've looked at it already.
I like it.
If the price could be reasonable,
Well, we talked about a price,
but I don't know what these guys are into now.
Sometimes they sleep, bad sleep, a big problem.
No, no, no, I give my price.
$90,000 for two load.
That's not what we were talking about yesterday.
What were we talking about yesterday?
NARRATOR: Diane has 80,000 grand in the bag for this aqua,
but the selling price is now uncertain.
Okay, I think the issue really is the price.
All right, here's the problem, Nicholas.
We didn't expect to have that kind of a price, so...
Well, I think we have to do it right.
$70,000, we leave the small bag.
Better buy all.
Well, we're not gonna pay $90,000.
She can't pay $90,000.
See, I have a client. She only has so much money.
Okay.
Last night we phoned, we talked about the price.
Okay, for two, I give the last price.
$80,000 for the two packages,
the big and the small together.
Think about it. That's $80,000. That's a lot of money.
That's a lot of money.
Let's not screw around with it. It's okay. Take your time.
I think it's good. I think it's good.
That's good. Okay.
'Cause, you still have my fail-safe numbers.
Well, shake his hand, and let's get it.
Finished.
Thank you very much.
All right.
Thank you. $80,000. Thank you.
Well, we got the package.
We got the two packages of aquamarine.
Stunning stones, $80,000.
I am happy, my client's gonna be happy.
This is one of the best buys I've ever done.
I've never experienced a more kind of bamboozling,
weird, or strange trip than we had,
that the gem hunters had here in Mozambique.
I tell you, we couldn't find the stuff.
We found diabolical characters,
down a lot of dusty roads, a few mines.
We got a treasure map,
and it turned out to be a triumph beyond compare.
Thank you, Mozambique.
NARRATOR: Ron's search for the highly-prized Mozambican rubies
was a bust,
but his 11-gram Paraíba tourmaline
that was bought for $5,000
was sold to a buyer in Dallas in the rough for 21,000 grand,
netting Ron a profit of 16,000 big ones.
Diane's 80,000 grand of double-blue aquamarine
is on track to earn her $50,000
after she has split the profits with her silent investor.
Total gem-hunt profit for this difficult trip
is close to 80,000 grand.
You truly are the huntress.
Whoo-hoo!
Someone finally said it besides me.
Well, finally I said it once.
Bernie will take a little while longer to say,
but he'll get there.
Next deal.
She's the huntress.
Ah, Bernie!
Whoo!