Anthill Garnet

One of the many gemstones featured on our website is the uniquely beautiful Anthill Garnet. Unlike its counterpart, Orissa Garnet - that is mined in the state of Orissa near Bengal, Anthill Garnet comes from the backyards of Arizona and New Mexico. But the wonder of the gem does not stop there!

Anthill Garnet receives its name from the way the gem is found! That’s right, found! not mined.

The beautiful gems are found near anthills as they are mined by ants!

Ants, that are excavating their new homes, will come across these raw uncut stones and either surface the anthill to discard of the stone or bring them to their queen ant!

When rain comes, these gems are washed from the hills to the surrounding soil where they are accumulated in large numbers. And since the gem has a strong red color contrast against the desert soil, they are easily found!

The Anthill Garnet is mostly found in Arizona on Native American Lands. Today, these stones are mostly collected by Native Americans who will collect them and sell them to lapidaries to cut and polish the stone to the gems we see in our jewelry! However, since most of the stones that are surfaced are surfaced by ants, they are almost always less than one carat when they are cut and polished.

Ant hill garnets are novelty gems that mainly have a local popularity. The number of stones produced is far lower than what would be needed to make them a commercial gem, to be used in mass-produced jewelry with broad distribution, making them a true rarity!