'It's like nothing else on earth': Rarest of gemstones fuels boom for Alberta miners

This story was originally published Feb. 22, 2017.

A Calgary-based mining company says its operation will quadruple in size within 12 months thanks to prehistoric squid-like creatures transformed into gemstonesthat can only be found in one spot in the world, southern Alberta.

About 70 million years ago, Korite's mine would have been found in the bottom of the Bearpaw Sea. Today, it is in the bottom of a coulee about 20 minutes south of Lethbridge, Alta. in the geographic formation is known as the Bearpaw Formation.

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Ammolitegems are the result of perfectly preserved prehistoric ammonitebeing pressed in layers of shale.

While the animal's fossils can be found around the world, a southern Alberta river basin is the only place where a confluence of factors made themolluscinto a gem.

"Allthe colours are on top of each other, the same as a rainbow and it's all natural. So that makes it one of the rarest gemstones in the world,"ReneTrudel,Korite'soperation field manager,told CBC News.

"In this sediment, the preservation is incredible ... you cannot find anywhere else the full spectrum [of colours]."

Mining companyKorite 'expanding dramatically'

And that's good news for Korite,which is scrambling to keep up with surging demand.

"We were mining two acres a year, and in the next 12 months we'll mine eight acres. So we're expanding dramatically," Korite president Jay Maull said.

"It's not only do we have to find it, we have to process it. We were processing about six million carats of gemstoneper year. We're growing to eight million this year, but to meet demand we're going to have to double that over the next two years."

The expansion will also mean hiring both at the mine for the Lethbridgearea that means about 20 more jobs and for jobs inmarketing, sales, distribution and processing at the headquarters in Calgary.

Koritecurrently employs 280 people worldwide.

'It's not easy to start a new gemstone'

Trudel was neverformally trained as a geologist but he knows the Bearpaw Formation like the back of his hand, having worked there for 35 years.

He's also overseenthe excavation of about 57 hectares of land in the area, searching for the elusivegemstone.

The company has come a long way from where itstarted in the late 1970s. At that point,the company wasonly using surface extraction and marketing the treasures to tourists in Banff,Alta.

That was the landscapebefore ammolitewas even recognized as a gemstone. The official designation changed everything in the early1980s.

"If it weren't for the Japanese at that time they were travelling in large numbers in Alberta they wanted souvenirs unique from Canada,"Trudelsaid.

"That really helped us. It's not easy to start a new gemstone."

The first mine was dug in 1983, and four others have been dug since.

"Thenlots of people started to hear about us. And it's growing very fast in different markets, like the Caribbean with the cruise boats," said Trudel.

Koriteuncovered other ancient creatures

Trudeljokes about the fact that in thetime he's been plottingKorite'smines, he's never missed.

He has followed theBearpawFormation all the way down into Montana and nowhere else has he found ammolite in the condition it exists in the St. Mary River Valley and along parts of theOldmanRiver.

Of course, the squid-like ammonites weren't the only creatures living in the area during the Late Cretaceous Period.

TheKoriteteam has also found sevenMosasaurs a scaly skinned, flesh-eating marine reptile that livedbetween 65 million and 135 million years ago andaPlesiosaur alarge carnivorous sea animalwith a broad body and two pairs of flippers that lived at the time of the dinosaurs.

All were pulled out of the ground by the Royal TyrrellMuseum ofPaleontology, in Drumheller.

Gemstones' cost compares to sapphires

The cost of the gemstone is comparable currently tosapphiresor black opals.

However, the cost of each depends on colour, which is rated on a one to five scale, as well as itsbrightness.

"It's like nothing else on earth, it has more colours than any other gemstone in the world," Maull said.

The company's also getting a boost from Canada 150.

Koriteis the official supplier of jewelry and keepsakes,such as pins and cufflinks, for theanniversary celebrations because of its statusasa product only found in Canada.

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