Rio Doce Gem Mine

I have to admit that Rio Doce is my favorite among the gem mines we have visited in Spruce Pine. You will not find nicer  people any where and the material you find in the buckets is by far the best, in my humble opinion. I have also gotten material from the buckets here that I haven't seen anywhere else. Some of the different stones, facet grade, I have gotten here are Emerald, Amethyst, Ametrine, Aquamarine, Iolite, Rose Quartz, Labradorite, Imperial Topaz, Kunzite, Morganite, various colors of Tourmaline and Brazilianite.

Besides the facetable material you will also find Amazonite, Black Onyx and once in a while Opal. The buckets come in  several different sizes and prices. They start at $10.00 and go up to $110.00. If you plan to have any of your stones cut the $110.00 bucket is the way to go, you get two stones cut free. Considering that the going rate is around $50.00 to cut a stone that's not a bad deal. Plus you get much nicer material in the larger buckets. There is also a $50.00 bucket with one stone cut free.

If you want to have your stones set in jewelry they will also do that for you. Or you may want to buy something from the displays of already made  jewelry. There are also some specimens for sale. My  favorite was the 250 pound Amethyst cluster that Jerry had one summer. My only problem was I didn't have the $7,500.00 purchase price! Sorry, it has been sold. Hopefully I can get a picture of it displayed on  this page in the near future.

You can also get some fairly nice specimens in the $100.00 buckets. We have some Garnets that are just a little  smaller than baseballs, some sapphires that weigh in at close to a pound, Apatite, Tourmaline crystals and a lot more. As time permits I will try to get some pictures of  these posted on this page also.

Some pictures of the specimens we have gotten at Rio Doce are on the Rio Rocks page. More will be added when I get the time to take more pictures. Pictures of the stones we have had cut at Rio Doce will be displayed on the Rio Stones page when I get time to take the pictures.