Golden Rutilated Quartz Artisanal Mining Community
Jennifer-Lynn Archuleta
Figure 1. The remote Brazilian mining community of Remedios is the site of the Bahia golden rutilated quartz mines. The town is developing a sustainable collective of artisanal miners. Photo by Brian Cook
"At the January 2017 Jewelry Industry Summit held in Tucson, Brian and Kendra Cook (Nature’s Geometry) discussed their efforts to promote sustainable mining in Brazil’s Bahia State. In cooperation with 2,500 miners from the region, the Cooks are developing a collective in Remedios, Novo Horizonte (figure 1). Plans to brand the region’s unique golden rutilated quartz will be supported by a warehouse and cutting facilities, as well as a visitor center. To provide food security for the population, the Cooks also intend to bring organic community farming to the area.
Brian Cook first visited the remote site, located in Chapada Diamantina bordering the Atlantic Rain Forest and the Serrado and Caatinga ecological communities, in 1983 as a geology student. The trip from Salvador, Bahia’s capital, took 2½ days, and he was shown an example of golden rutilated quartz (figure 2), which was relatively rare on the gem market at the time. He later became an exporter of the quartz and helped raise its profile. The Cooks have since become landowners in Remedios, and their property includes a successful golden rutilated quartz mine. Over the years they have visited with their children from their home in Salvador (now a ten-hour journey thanks to improved infrastructure) and become trusted members of the community. ..."
https://www.gia.edu/gems-gemology/sprin ... -community
