Ingo Arndt / Precious Wentletrap (Epitonium scalare), Meeresmuseum Ozeania, Riedenburg, Germany

Juergen Freund / Andamooka opals in boxes, South Australia

Juergen Freund / Andamooka opal field with a deep open pit, South Australia

Gavin Hellier / Colourful beads hanging for sale, Mutrah Souq, Muscat, Oman 2007

Jabruson / Gula women drawing water from well; these people are Magreb Arab descendants originally from Sudan. Precious water is drawn from a communal well each day by women and children in the village of Bon ne...

Jabruson / Gula boy drawing water from well; these people are Magreb Arab descendants originally from Sudan. Precious water is drawn from a communal well each day by women and children in the village of Bon near...

Jabruson / Gula woman with freshly drawn water from well. These people are Magreb Arab descendants originally from Sudan. Precious water is drawn from a communal well each day by women and children in Kashkasha...

Jabruson / Gula women drawing water from well, they are Magreb Arab descendants originally from Sudan. Precious water is drawn from a communal well each day by women and girls in the village of Bon, Zakouma Nat...

Graham Eaton / Pebbles of semi-precious Jasper, Quartz SiO2, in shingle on a beach, Aberdaron, Wales. The jasper is present in the rocks associated with an ancient plate boundary. July

David Woodfall / Award winning car washing business using recycled water involving reedbed to aid conservation of precious resource, Swansea, Wales, UK 2009

Juergen Freund / Fishermen arrive in the harbour to unload their tuna fish catch after several days out at sea. Without enough ice in their boats, fishermen are compelled to return to land to replenish the ice for the...

John Cancalosi / Aquamarine, gemstone variety of the mineral Beryl (beryllium aluminum silicate), precious stone, Pakistan