Amethyst
February's birthstone — purple quartz once valued equal to ruby until vast Brazilian deposits were found. The basalt geode belt of Ametista do Sul, Brazil produces cathedral-sized geodes; Uruguay's Artigas deposits yield the deepest "Siberian" purple. A crystal-lover favorite linked to calm and intuition.
Known origins & mines
Ametista do Sul Geode Belt · Brazil
World amethyst capital: basalt lava-tube geodes up to cathedral size are mined by shaft here and in neighboring Iraí. Pale-violet with laven…
Artigas Deposits · Uruguay
Across the border belt lies Uruguay's crown: deep saturated "Siberian-grade" purple with red-blue flashes that Brazilian material rarely mat…
Kariba Amethyst Mine (Mapatizya) · Zambia
Mwakambwiko Hills operation running 60+ years - arguably the world's largest single amethyst producer, setting the deep-purple standard.…
Wanda Amethyst Mines · Argentina
Misiones province geode fields discovered 1979, now Argentina's main amethyst and agate source in the Paraná basalt province.…
Four Peaks Mine · United States
Arizona's iconic amethyst on Four Peaks summit produced deep purple since Apache times; helicopter-accessed workings now feed small premium …
Las Vigas Veracruz · Mexico
Mexican amethyst crystallizes free-standing points in volcanic vugs rather than geodes — slender scepter clusters prized for specimen cabine…
Murzinka Ural Mines · Russia
The "Siberian" color benchmark came from these 18th-century Ural miarolitic pockets that supplied Catherine the Great's court lapidaries.…
Thunder Bay Amethyst · Canada
Northwest Ontario amethyst panhandle mines show distinctive red hematite dusting inside purple crystals — the Canadian collector signature.…