Arriving at Belo Horizante Airport in Brazil was a chilling experience. Literally.  After flying in from Miami Beach and the hot, sticky weather, it was quite the shock to the system to step off the plane in a 45 degree chill.  Needless to say, we weren't prepared for the temperature change!  Our host explained to us that this was a freak cold front and should be warmer in the next few days.  Everyone was scrambling to find a t-shirt or gift shop to find a jacket or sweatshirt to wear until that cold front blew over.  We the best of what we had and built a fire in the fireplace and gathered around it every night before bedtime to toast our bodies and fill our souls with conversation with new friends.  An adventure was waiting for us in the next few days!  

Our first mine that we toured was the Capao mine in Rodrigo Silva.  This mine is the only working commercial Imperial Topaz mine in the world.  It was eye opening to see what a tiny operation it was and how little material came from that mine.  After touring the mine we took a trip into the small town of Oro Preto.  In this town was a gorgeous church built in early 1700's.  

The most high tech mine we visited was the Belmont emerald mine.  This mine is owned by a major corporation and was fully mechanized.  Quite the contrast from the other mines.  The most amazing piece of equipment was the electric eye that spotted the green emeralds as they came down the sorting belt and blew them with a gust of air, electronically, off the belt into a holding bin.  This equipment is extremely expensive and NOT the standard operating procedure of the mining process here in Brazil.

The big thing that I walked away from on the visits to the mine was how LITTLE amount of gemstone comes out of these mines for the effort and expense of mining them.  The BIG COMMERCIAL mine only yield approximately 5 ct. of rough emerald per TON of rock moved and of that, only 15 % is good enough for gem quality or jewelry use!  This was similar statistics for many of the mines.  It made me realize how inexpensive these gemstones truly are for the consumers. 

Tomorrow, we head to the dealers to sort through their polished stones and see what "goodies" I want to bring home to Occasions.  I'm thinking I can't live without an Imperial Topaz.  Gosh, they are beautiful and now I truly appreciate them and where they came from!