How miners find, cut, and transport the most expensive amethysts in the world
Amethyst is one of the most abundant crystals in the world. But the most prized pieces can cost almost a million dollars. Some of the world's largest amethyst geodes come out of Artigas, Uruguay. The earth beneath this region is uniquely suited to producing amethyst. But other than size, what qualities do miners look for in a valuable amethyst? And how are the crystals prepared once they're out of the ground? We explored why amethyst geodes are so expensive.
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00:00 Weighing in at 26 tons, or about four African elephants' worth of crystalline stone,
00:06 this massive geode costs almost $1 million.
00:10 Amethyst isn't particularly rare.
00:13 In fact, it's a type of quartz, one of the most common minerals on Earth.
00:18 But the geodes that miners laboriously excavate from Astorres Mine in Artigas, Uruguay, can still cost a pretty penny.
00:27 So, how much does size matter? And what else makes amethyst so expensive?
00:36 Hundreds of years ago, amethyst was considered as valuable as rubies and sapphires.
00:46 But in the 1800s, massive deposits were discovered in South America, tanking its value.
00:54 Now, Uruguay is one of the most prolific producers of amethyst in the world.
00:58 And this mine is renowned for its massive geodes.
01:22 Las Torres Mine sits on a wide and ancient basaltic lava flow, ideal conditions for amethyst geodes.
01:29 But excavating amethyst is no easy feat.
01:34 The volcanic rock that surrounds it, known as basalt, is porous, allowing water to seep in.
01:41 Miners know how to use this feature to their advantage.
01:45 You have to keep in mind that these bubbles, which are 140-150 million years old,
01:50 fill up with rainwater that seeps through the basalt cracks.
01:55 So all the amethyst geodes have a lot of water.
01:59 Miners set off controlled explosions to clear away rock and blast small fissures in undiscovered geodes.
02:09 [Music]
02:31 [Spanish]
02:48 Miners like Renato Arocena start assessing the amethyst's value before it's even out of the ground.
02:57 [Spanish]
03:07 As lava cools into rock, bubbles of volcanic gas form pockets.
03:13 In the right conditions, those pockets can turn into this.
03:19 [Spanish]
03:28 Amethyst is quartz that has changed colour because of exposure to radioactive material.
03:34 Over millions of years, the quartz gradually absorbs the radiation that's naturally present in the rock that surrounds it.
03:43 This radiation agitates iron atoms in the quartz, which burn off the excess energy in the form of visible light.
03:50 That radioactivity is what makes amethyst purple.
03:54 Higher concentrations of iron result in deeper hues.
03:59 [Spanish]
04:12 [Music]
04:25 At Las Torres, miners extract small geodes and chunks of amethyst from an open-air mine.
04:32 [Spanish]
04:43 But it's in the tunnels where the largest and most prized specimens lie.
04:48 [Spanish]
04:54 And the stakes get higher when dealing with the giant geodes.
04:59 [Music]
05:08 [Spanish]
05:24 [Music]
05:29 [Spanish]
05:44 [Music]
05:50 Iron rods work as guides that show the miners where and how to cut the rock around the geode.
05:56 [Spanish]
06:17 [Music]
06:25 The raw material is washed and sorted by size and quality.
06:30 [Music]
06:35 [Spanish]
06:51 [Music]
06:54 Artisans like Ricardo Martinez take the raw materials and transform them.
07:01 [Music]
07:25 He uses various sized diamond discs to grind each stone into his desired size and shape.
07:31 [Music]
07:40 [Spanish]
07:45 Small flaws can be fixed at this stage.
07:50 [Spanish]
07:59 But major breaks will significantly reduce the value of larger pieces.
08:05 [Spanish]
08:14 Carlos Anchis owns Les Verges Minerals, one of Artigas' largest amethyst exporters and home of its largest amethysts.
08:22 Like this 26-ton colossus.
08:26 [Spanish]
08:42 It took eight months to process it and move it from the mine to where it stands now.
08:48 Finding a buyer for a behemoth like this is no easy feat.
08:53 Sometimes they can stand around for years.
08:57 [Spanish]
09:13 So producers will often work with international retailers that basically act as brokers between them and potential customers.
09:23 Most of Les Verges Minerals' sales consist of smaller pieces.
09:27 But small doesn't necessarily mean cheap.
09:31 [Spanish]
09:51 Different combinations of minerals and naturally occurring shapes can also boost the price.
09:57 [Spanish]
10:26 [Spanish]
10:33 [Music]
10:37 [Spanish]
10:58 While the demand for diamonds plummeted during the pandemic, the opposite was true for near gemstones.
11:06 Crystals like amethyst have long been associated with metaphysical healing.
11:10 And while there's no scientific evidence to back those claims, the industry still grew to be worth more than $1 billion in 2020.
11:19 That demand is good news for Les Verges and Las Torres, where there is plenty of supply left to be discovered.
11:28 [Spanish]
11:39 [Music]
11:45 [BLANK_AUDIO]