ive just seen info from the AGTA that verifies what i have heard several months ago-maby not so new news-a study finds that a lot of the african tourmaline-elbite type with small amounts of copper content which adds to the blue color is elementally diffused-this is a process that can add elements/color to the material-this stuff or part of it is passed as paraiba tourmaline-ive always thought paraiba only from brazil-period-several of my appraisers think along the same lines-unless your stone has documents that confirm origin-your appraisal will be less by almost 40-50%. these stones are only a small portion of material that is surfacing lately on the web or from suppliers pushing gemstones for sale with a questionable history-drive carefully...