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GBS
Joined: 20 Jan 2010
Posts: 35
Location: Southwest Florida
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 Posted: Apr 07, 2011 20:35 Post subject: Amethyst Points |
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I have a chance to get some large polished amethyst points from a friend of mine in Brazil. The ones in the pictures range in height from 23 cm to 31.5 cm and weigh from 2.82 kg to 8.89 kg. I am told they are finding the large amethyst in low quantites in northern Brazil up by the Amazon. I also have a chance to get some large clusters that look very similar to large amethyst clusters from Bolivia which I had previously purchased. They are quite expensive and I was wondering what the forum members thought about them.
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alfredo
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Joined: 30 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Apr 07, 2011 21:18 Post subject: Re: Amethyst Points |
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| Nice impressive pieces for the interior decorator trade, but not so much for serious mineralogical collections because of the artificially cut and polished faces. When these big crystals come out of the ground, their faces are very rough and rugged, not smooth at all, and so the Brazilians cut them flat and polish them to create the classic hexagonal quartz shape that customers expect.
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GBS
Joined: 20 Jan 2010
Posts: 35
Location: Southwest Florida
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| Posted: Apr 08, 2011 06:17 Post subject: Re: Amethyst Points |
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Thanks for your thoughts on the points alfredo. I think you would like the large clusters better.
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alfredo
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| Posted: Apr 08, 2011 06:31 Post subject: Re: Amethyst Points |
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Ah yes, much nicer!
Looks just like the material from La Gaiba, in Bolivia, close to the border of Matto Grosso.
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Maxilos
Joined: 02 Nov 2010
Posts: 191
Location: Boskoop, The Netherlands
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| Posted: Apr 08, 2011 08:46 Post subject: Re: Amethyst Points |
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Hi,
Those are amazing and really purple.
Mark
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GBS
Joined: 20 Jan 2010
Posts: 35
Location: Southwest Florida
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| Posted: Apr 08, 2011 09:44 Post subject: Re: Amethyst Points |
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| alfredo wrote: | Ah yes, much nicer!
Looks just like the material from La Gaiba, in Bolivia, close to the border of Matto Grosso. |
Yes, back in 2004 I was able to aquire 814 kilos of the Bolivian Amethyst including the piece in the previous picture and the one in the following picture. Since then I am told the mine has dried up and closed down. i'm told that they are finding large clusters similar to the Bolivian amethyst up in northern Brazil by the Amazon. I was told the polished points posted above were made from these large clusters. My friend in Brazil is going to send me pictures of some large clusters available next week. I'm interest to see what they look like and how they compare to the large Bolivian amethyst clusters.
Gary
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alfredo
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Joined: 30 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Apr 08, 2011 12:13 Post subject: Re: Amethyst Points |
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It might be true that there is a location in northern Brazil for these - at least I have no information that that is false.... BUT:
Keep in mind that in the past a lot of that Bolivian material (literally tons) was sold by "jucos" ( a bolivian word derived from the quechua for nocturnal raptors, = "highgraders" in american mining lingo) to Brazilian smugglers who took it across the border into Brazil and then lied about it being from an unknown new locality in Brazil. So I'd be suspicious of an "Amazonian" origin until someone actually visits the locality and publishes photos and an article. Which, again, is not to say that such a new locality doesn't exist, but the older I get the more cantankerously skeptical i become :))
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GBS
Joined: 20 Jan 2010
Posts: 35
Location: Southwest Florida
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| Posted: Apr 08, 2011 15:55 Post subject: Re: Amethyst Points |
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| alfredo wrote: | It might be true that there is a location in northern Brazil for these - at least I have no information that that is false.... BUT:
Keep in mind that in the past a lot of that Bolivian material (literally tons) was sold by "jucos" ( a bolivian word derived from the quechua for nocturnal raptors, = "highgraders" in american mining lingo) to Brazilian smugglers who took it across the border into Brazil and then lied about it being from an unknown new locality in Brazil. So I'd be suspicious of an "Amazonian" origin until someone actually visits the locality and publishes photos and an article. Which, again, is not to say that such a new locality doesn't exist, but the older I get the more cantankerously skeptical i become :)) |
I know what you say is true. I'm just repeating what I am being told. In fact I would not be totally surprised if the Bolivian Amethyst I imported back in 2004 was smuggled in to Brazil. When I aquired it I inquired about the mine of it's origin. The only thing they would tell me is that the mine was in the jungle in Bolivia very close to the border of Brazil. I aquired it from my friend's father's friend in Brazil. I imported it to the US along with some other items from Brazil. I went back today and looked at the original documents and invoice. There is no mention anywhere that origin of the large clusters was from Bolivia. I'm not sure if this is required or not.
From what I hear a lot of places in South America are still like the wild west. People prospect and lay a claim to mines in the middle of nowhere. If you happen to stumble upon one you could even get shot. If there is money to be made by smuggling crystals in to Brazil I'm sure it happens.
Anyways I'm still interested in seeing and maybe aquiring some more large amethyst clusters no matter what their origin is.
Gary
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