Ohio Caverns purchased most of the amethyst, pyrite and other stones from a supplier in Cloverdale, Ind., for the past three decades. But their supplier recently retired, forcing them to look at other options.
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That led Ohio Caverns Manager Tim Grissom to make a roughly 5,000-mile trip to Soledade, Brazil, a small desert town that supplies semi-precious stones to buyers from all over the world. Grissom planned to purchase enough to supply the gift shop for three years.
“We maybe overdid it and bought a little more than that, but that’s OK too,” Grissom said.
He came back with about 60 tons of amethyst, citrine, quartz and other stones packed into 55-gallon drums and shipped by boat, rail and highway back to West Liberty.
Grissom said he believes the Caverns now have the largest collection of semi-precious stones in the state. The thousands of stones on display in the gift shop represent about 5 percent of what the Caverns purchased, he said.
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Ohio Caverns is one of the area’s largest tourist attractions, drawing 50,000 to 60,000 visitors every year. The business could have purchased the stones from wholesale suppliers, Grissom said. But in most cases, those products weren’t the same quality as what their previous supplier had provided.
Amethyst, for example is judged on its cut and on its color. The stones on display in the gift shop are deep purple, but many of those Grissom found at other suppliers were a much lighter shade.
Mike and Debbie Thompson, of suburban Pittsburgh, stopped into the gift shop Wednesday on their way to a vacation in Florida.
“They’re gorgeous,” Debbie Thompson said of the amethyst as she walked along the front of the store.
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Soledade, where Grissom spent about eight days last December, is a small desert town in Brazil’s southernmost state. But much of the semi-precious stone in the world is either sold there, mined nearby or passes through area businesses where they are polished, cut, or shaped into lamps, candleholders or jewelry.
“It’s a small town,” Grissom said. “It’s the size of Urbana, but it drives the economy. I met buyers from all over the world that were in town to buy stones.”
Ohio Caverns sells between 10 and 15 tons of semi-precious stones each year, Grissom said. It will likely be at least three years before Grissom has to make another trek to Brazil.
“Nature does amazing things under the ground,” Grissom said. “There’s no way man can fake these.”
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The Springfield News-Sun will continue to provide unmatched coverage of businesses in the region. For this story, the paper spoke to staff at the Ohio Caverns about a trip to Brazil to secure 60 tons of semi-precious stones.
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