Brasil, the state of Minas Gerias in particular is a wondrous place. Rich in resources, many as yet still unexplored. You can be walking down a dirt road out in the countryside, kick up a stone and discover a gem in the rough! I was recently told the story of a man who never looking for riches, began to excavate his land to build a home and with one of the first few strokes of the excavator unearthed one of the largest Emeralds ever found!

Yes there are the few big commercial mines that have the recognized names, sell to wholesalers all over the world and get all the glory. But the men I most admire are the true old style Minaros, the men who with little capital and a lot of ambition, courage, and faith pit themselves against the mountain in hopes of discovering riches and glory. These men often can not even afford Dynamite and are forced to risk there lives blasting with a combination of diesel fuel and fertilizer packed with wadded newspaper and a hand lit fuse. If that's not courageous I don't know what is.

I admire the street Buyer/Sellers you find in places like Govanador Valadares and Teoflo Toni who buy or take on commission the Minaros finds. Then seek out the buyers from places like America, Europe, and Asia to sell those precious finds to for the best profit that they can. The deal making is often rough and sometimes even down right vicious! The standard practice being to take whatever price the street Buyer/Seller starts at and cut it in half and then begin negotiations from there. You can often see the pain of decision in the mans eyes as he weighs weather to sell at the offered price and feed his family for another day or hold out in hopes of finding a better deal with another foreign buyer. I admire the courage and faith it takes of them to say no and walk away.

I admire the artistry of the craftsmen who in small lapidary shops often attached to the back of their homes create Crystal points, spheres, and carvings with the skill of fine sculptors. Some of who are Michael Angelos in there own right! When you see a bird whose body is carved out of Rose, tail from Smoky, and beak of gem quality Smoky Quartz. Every detail of every feather vivid, its wings poised so that it looks like it is about to take that little hop that birds do when taking flight and though you know it is carved from stone you half expect it to do just that! You know you are dealing with an artist, a man who puts his heart and soul into his creations and deserves that title just as much as any sculptor of note and fame out there today or in the past.

These are the men I admire. These are the men for whom this web site was built. These are the men who through this web site I hope to bring better prices for their gemstones, points, spheres, carvings and mineral specimens. The men whose lives and the lives of whose families I hope to improve. Yes, I do fit in there somewhere, but I'm not looking to get rich or to live a grand life. I am looking for the pain free existence that Brasil affords me, to live comfortable, and to make the life of the woman I love and that her family better as well. As I've stated before,

"The little things mean a lot."