The Mining Process- Part I

If you read this blog you probably have some idea about how amethyst geodes are mined, but perhaps some of you do not. If you are a dealer, chances are your customers don't know much about the mining process. Feel free to steal my pictures and explanations. If you have a client email list, forward them a link to my blog. I think they will be grateful for the information. In this post I will talk about the amethyst mine. The world's largest amethyst ore is in southern Brazil, near the Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina state border. It is in an agricultural area of soy, and tobacco. As you can see from the photo, the mining process is horizontal rather than vertical. You dig across rather than down. The "digging" starts at the base of a hill and moves forward horizontally along a vane. The hillside is made mostly of basalt. At the entrance of the mines there is usually a large pile of broken basalt rocks. Once an entrance is made the vane can "fork" several times, depending on where there seem to be the most geodes in the basalt. In my next post I will tell you more about the process inside the mine, but I can't tell you everything now, I need you to come back in a few days to read the next post.