Belmont Emeralds, our origins
The Belmont Mine is located in the small city of Itabira, countryside of Minas Gerais state, Brazil.
The origin of Belmont goes back to 1978 when Mr. Mauro Ribeiro, the owner of the farm where the property lies, found some green stones while operating a front loader to make a small dam spot for his cattle.
A nearby railroad worker, with some knowledge about emeralds spotted the minerals and convinced Mr. Ribeiro to allow him to collect and sell some of those stones. At that moment Mr. Ribeiro had no idea what those stones were as his experience was rendering transportation services for the world’s largest producer of iron ore and nickel, Vale Mining Company.
The railroad worker later brought Mr. Ribeiro’s the results of their arrangement which showed Mr. Ribeiro the true value of what lay beneath his soil. And so, the Belmont Mine was born.
From its beginning up to this day, the mining activities of Belmont takes places in a family-cherished property where many ancestors were born and raised. Hence the respect for the environment and the quest for a sustainable mining operation have been embedded in the company’s principles since its very foundation.