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 During our trip to Ouro Preto, we were very fortunate to visit two of the more famous imperial topaz mines. When we showed up in Ouro Preto, we knew we wanted to see some of the mines, but really had no clue how to go about arranging a tour. We really got lucky in our choice of tour guide. We went to the Tourist Center, and Alex was the one who spoke the best English. We didn’t know at the time that he would also be invaluable in getting us to the mines. He was also an history professor, so he made the perfect guide for the many historic sites in Ouro Preto.  This photo shows old mines on the side of the highway on the way to Mariana. They are either gold or topaz mines.  
The first mine we visited was the Antonio Pereira Mine outside of the city of Mariana, in Minas Gerais. This mine is a large open pit mine that is worked by garimpeiros (independent miners.) In fact, when we first pulled up, we weren’t sure we were in the right place. Surely all those gorgeous stones didn’t come out of this muddy pit? As we ventured across the bridge, and down into the mine, we were approached on all sides by miners pulling out the folded white papers they keep their finds in. Dev was so overwhelmed he handed the video camera to Beth, which is why we don’t have the many still shots, but we have some great video! Dev was to busy picking and choosing from all the stones to be bothered with recording them for posterity.   Digging topaz is dangerous dirty work. We were there at the end of the rainy season, and the mud can increase the danger from slides and walls falling. However, the miners we talked to say they love it and don’t want to do anything else. They are definitely rockhounds of the first order.  Visit to the Capão Mine We also had the rare pleasure of visiting the internationally known Capão mine (which means Big Lid), the largest producer of imperial topaz in the world. Our host was the charming Edgar Silva, who very graciously guided us through out the mine, and even down into the pit.  Buying a picnic lunch before heading out to the mine.  The miners hang there hardhats on the tree while they take a break.  Break time means a serious game of ping pong. Dev was in heaven, rocks AND ping pong!    Heading out to the mine. What isn't apparent in the photos is that even the dirt is beautiful. It has a shimmer from one of the minerals found in the mine. We asked what it was but they couldn't give us a translation.   The mine uses a hydraulic system to pull out large buckets of material that is shifted at the sorting table.   We were allowed down into the pit where they were digging by hand to follow a vein. This is the only way to be sure the best crystals are not damaged by the mechinized retrieval system. They don't bring in the hydraulics until they lose the vein.    The miners were very kind, and tried to find a crystal for us to film. Unfortunately, we are not National Geographic, and a beautiful crystal didn't magically appear. But, hey, we are all about realism, and that's the way is really is most of the time.  The crew down at the sorting table was hanging out waiting for the next batch of likely dirt.   The pan on the table holds the current days take of topaz. They said it was an average yeild.   Topaz in matrix  Devin, Edgar Silva, Ivon Penera, the mine's manager, Alex - our tour guide  The purple building is the office for the mine in town.    Devin was practically drooling on the parcel of imperial topaz Edgar had. He so wanted to purchase it. (Beth was waiting for him to offer the deed to the house at that point.) However, this was the last day of our trip, and we were broke...really, really broke. Hopefully, in a few months, we will be contacting Edgar and be able to purchase some of his gorgeous stones! Use the links below to check out other topics of interest from our trip to Brazil.
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