What kind of stone is mined in Brazil?

You know, when you don’t write about a precious stone, you end up having to add “mined in Brazil.” It feels like the Creator deliberately made this country a gem shop. In my opinion, only there is no amber there (although, who knows, maybe there is, but they hide it). In a word, in Brazil, besides wild monkeys and football, almost all the treasures of the world are concentrated. On the one hand, this is wonderful, the country is lucky. On the other hand, how many times have Brazilian deposits brought down the world market for precious stones, reducing jewelry crystals to the level of ornamental materials? I can’t count them on my fingers! As soon as a rare gem appears, entire caravans of this “rarity” are being brought from Brazil! Where did you come from, anyway, Brazil? It was discovered by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvares Cabral. Actually, how did you open it? He swam to the shore, drew it on the map, stuck a flag in the sand, and swam away. The whole treasure of the new land, which he called “Vera Cruz,” lay solely in the wood that loomed a little further from the beach. Moreover, he was not interested in the scantily dressed Indians, who wore noticeably less gold than their northern neighbors. However, after the admiral, colonists sailed – builders, carpenters, blacksmiths and miners. At first they were preoccupied with extracting the same wood and coffee (well, of course, coffee!) But, having reached the northern valleys of the Amazon to the Parana plateau, they dug into the ground and froze in amazement. Brazil turned out to be stuffed with jewels. Of course, Brazil should not be blamed for driving down the price of precious stones. On the contrary, the flow of quality crystals imported from this country gave a significant boost to the European jewelry industry. Minerals that have become more accessible no longer frighten jewelers who process stones with their cost – this is how the art of cutting took a step from the Indian tradition, where the lapidary only processed the natural shape of the stone, to the modern forms of diamonds, perfect in their clarity. Here are two simple examples – Queen Elizabeth of England did not hesitate to personally strike a diamond, splitting the crystal into blanks. None of the court jewelers took it upon themselves to do this – after all, a mistake could very well end in the chopping block! But there is no demand from the queen, even if the stone later has to be thrown away. And how could Europeans react to Brazil, where they could find an emerald weighing several kilograms? Of course, after processing there was much less left. for example, the largest emerald found in Brazil weighed seven kilos. After cutting, it turned into a pebble weighing “only” two hundred carats. If you remember, we told you that emeralds themselves are small, and a green mineral of more than five carats is a likely candidate for auction. Where there are emeralds, there are rubies (don’t confuse them, by the way: “Brazilian ruby” is pink topaz), but there were also plenty of real rubies in Brazil. True, later Colombia also became the country of emeralds, but Brazil’s fame as a country where you can find any stone has already become legendary in Europe. Emeralds were only the first harbinger of Brazil’s astonishing wealth. Then – topaz, aquamarine, amethyst, spinel. It seemed that in Brazil you could find any stone, just dig with a shovel or hit the rock with a pick. Can you imagine what started in Europe? Yes, exactly madness. Until the 19th century, people bought trips from travel companies (even then there were tour operators, for example the legendary Cook Agency) just to get to Brazil, get a guide and walk through the mountains, hoping to find the biggest gem. And before that, before the advent of travel companies, several hundred years earlier, people simply sold everything they had – and went at their own risk to distant Brazil in search of treasures. And you know, some were found. 😉 The Brazilian land hides real treasures: “sea” aquamarines, diamonds, amethysts, emeralds, topazes, Paraiba tourmalines. A delightful kaleidoscope that can turn anyone’s head.

What stones are mined in Brazil

Diamonds began to be mined in the country back in the 18th century. However, at that time production was sluggish, since Indian diamonds were widely represented on the jewelry market and at bargain prices. And only many years later the world appreciated the divine beauty of the Brazilian diamond. Advertising – Continued below Amethyst is also mainly mined here – the most common stones are purple and crimson in color. Solar citrine can also be found exclusively in Brazil. In addition, it is in this country that the extremely valuable imperial orange-pink topaz (otherwise known as imperial topaz) is mined. Of course, we cannot fail to mention another unique stone, the main deposit of which remains to this day in Brazil – Paraiba tourmaline. Until recently, Paraiba was generally mined only in this country, and received its name in honor of the state where it was first found at the end of the last century (1987). Later deposits of this tourmaline were found within Madagascar and Mozambique. However, it is the Brazilian origin of the stone that makes it more expensive and desirable.

The largest and most famous deposits in Brazil

Today, the lands of the country have opened up reserves of various ornamental, semi-precious and precious minerals to man. The most significant are the deposits where rock crystal, diamonds, topaz, beryl for jewelry production, agate, Paraiba tourmalines, amethysts, opal and emeralds are mined. Read more:
10 jewelry with magnificent Paraiba tourmalines Advertising – Continued below For example, in the north and south (Bahia state) of Brazil, topaz, tourmalines and beryl are mined in granite pegmatites. Deposits of red topaz are widely known: they are located near Ouro Preto. Multicolor tourmalines are found in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. In quartz veins in the territory of Victoria da Conquista there are deposits of amethysts, in the basalts of the state of Rio Grande do Sul – agate. The main diamond deposits are located within the states of Mato Grosso, Goiás and Bahia. A significant territory was captured by the rock crystal deposit – as many as five states of the country are occupied by its deposits.

Amazing precious finds

The largest “Don Pedro” aquamarine processed by jewelers to date was discovered in Brazil back in the early 80s. The skillful hands of master cutter Bernd Munsteiner gave the stone the shape of an obelisk with a spectacular engraving in the center. The color of the crystal is blue-green, height is 35,5 centimeters, actual weight is 2 kilograms or 10 carats (before processing, the mineral weighed as much as 363 kilograms). Advertising – Continued below Today, the famous aquamarine takes pride of place in the Washington Museum: the Hope Diamond and Marie Antoinette’s earrings are neighbors of “Don Pedro.” The stone is named after the Emperors of Brazil, Pedro I and Pedro II. The largest emerald in the world was also found in Brazil in the state of Bahia. Its weight is 1,9 million carats. The Bahian stone is today valued at $400 million. After being removed from Brazil, it was stored in New Orleans and nearly sank during a flood in 2005. In 2008, it was stolen from storage. They even tried to sell it on Ebay for $75 million. However, the stone was later seized by Los Angeles State Police. Read more:
Yellow gemstones: 11 shades of sunshine “Divine Ethereal Carolina” is the name of Paraiba tourmaline, which is rare in its beauty. Its homeland, of course, is also Brazil. The weight of the mineral is 192 carats. During the entire mining period, no more than 50 kilograms of these stones were found, and therefore they are very valuable and cost a lot of money. For example, the cost of “Carolina” is estimated by experts at between 25 and 125 million dollars. Subscribe to Jewelery Mag on Telegram and VK to be the first to know about new publications.