Garnet is one of the most beautiful gemstones in the world. Technically, garnet is not a single gem, it's a composition of a few minerals, but it is still regarded as a gemstone for its beauty, its rarity in some cases, and its value.
Most people hear the word "garnet" and think of the beautiful dark red colors of Madagscar garnet or standard red garnet. However, there is a very rare form of garnet that most people do not know about. This beauty is called Anthill Garnet (or Ant Hill Garnet).
When Insects Do the Dirty Work
Most of the time, gemstones are mined by people, and the rarity of a gemstone depends upon the availability of the stone in the mines and how many mines/locations there are. However, Anthill Garnet is rare all of the time. It only has one location, for one thing, and secondly, people don't do the mining. Ants do. That's right, those pesky little insects that invade our homes in the summer and ruin our picnics also provide us some of the most beautiful gemstones in the world.
As ants create their homes, they kick up dust. In this dust are pieces of garnet. Because this garnet could not be accessed without disturbing the ants, the ants are vital to the collection and mining of the gemstone.
Purifying Rains
When it rains, the pieces of garnet are not only naturally cleaned, but they pile together at the bottom of the anthills at a safe enough distance where they can be gathered by the native women there. (The anthills in Arizona that are the source of this gemstone are on a Navajo reservation.) Then, the women carefully collect the garnet.
An Extremely Rare Stone
These stones are incredibly rare. They only come from the Navajo reservations in Arizona, and because the stones are usually very small, as to be displaced by ants, anything over a carat is incredibly valuable. The only way these stones arrive on the marketplace is when traders and merchants from this region sell them at shows. Then, the stones can be sold for market value to jewelers and gemstone enthusiasts.
The Difference from Other Garnet
As any jewelry or gemstone collector knows, the rarity is half the value of most stones. However, these stones also give off a very unique color as well. They are known for their bright, ruby-scarlet tone, differentiated from other garnet which is generally very deep and dark, more of a dark crimson.
I hope you have found this article informative. I am certainly a gemstone enthusiast and am always in awe when I see Anthill Garnet in person. It is always a rare treat. Keep on collecting and making beautiful things!
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