President Maithripala Sirisena has cancelled with immediate effect the mining licenses for sapphires and other precious stones issued to 16 foreign companies by the former government.

The President said he had cancelled these licenses issued to unknown companies to safeguard the local mining industry.

While Sri Lanka is renowned as a place where the world’s largest and most valuable precious stones are found, it is still not clear whether these 16 foreign companies were in fact already engaged of were preparing to engage in mining activities.