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Famous Mineral Localities:
Minas Gerais, Brazil
Brazilian tourmaline has been famous among collectors and gemologists since the 16th century. Among the oldest and greatest of all Brazilian localities is the district of Barra de Salinas, encompassing a gem-bearing pegmatite swarm that continues to yield superb specimens today.
LOCATION
The Barra de Salinas mines are situated 715 kilometers from Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state of Minas Gerais. They can be reached by taking highway B.R. 040 to the intersection with B.R. 135, then following that road to Salinas. The last 36 km is a dirt road. Barra de Salinas (actually a part of the municipality of Coronel Murta) is in northeastern Minas Gerais, amid one of the greatest concentrations of gem pegmatites in the world. Occupying an area of 1500 hectares (over 3,700 acres), the mining operation is among the world's largest and most famous gem producers.
HISTORY
The discovery of tourmaline in Brazil dates back at least to 1565 (Wilson, 1994); in that year the Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner illustrated a prismatic crystal with rhombohedral termination which he identified as smaragdus bresilicus, "Brazilian emerald," a "prismatic species, striated, glass-like, leek-green, transparent." The first documented discovery came three years later, when Martim Carvalho decided to do some exploring after seeing some green stones that had been brought to Porto Seguro by Brazilian Indians. Shortly thereafter, Marcos de Azeredo Coutinho also found some Brazilian tourmaline. All of these early green tourmalines were thought to be emeralds, and were sent to Portugal, where some ended up in the crown of Nossa Senhora de Penha (Bastos, 1972).
Here in Brazil there is a legendary story about the famous bandeirante (explorer) Fernao Dias Paes Leme, who set out from Sdo Paolo in 1712 looking for emeralds. He had heard rumors of a sparkling hill of gemstones hidden deep in the jungle, and of a place called Vapabucu, in the state of Minas Gerais (already known for its deposits of silver, gold and precious stones). He traveled from Sao Paolo through the Paraiba Valley, crossed Mantiqueira Hill, and investigated the Serra da Piedade ("Pity Hill"). During his seven years of exploration...