History of the Chivor Emerald Mine, Part 1 (1880-1925): From Rediscovery to Early Production

GEMS & GEMOLOGY SPRING 2020 The foregoing outline of the story, as presently known, has been drawn largely from three books authored by individuals who led the mining activities at Chivor during different eras: German gem merchant Fritz Klein, South African mining engineer Peter W. Rainier, and American gem hunter and buyer Russell W. Anderton. All three men wrote in a style to highlight the adventurous nature of the work. Klein’s memoir covered the period from approximately 1911 to 1923 and was initially published in 1941, with a slightly updated version released in 1951. Rainier’s narrative chronicled from the second half of the 1920s to the early 1930s and was printed in 1942. Anderton’s work, coming to press in 1953 in the United States and 1954 in the United Kingdom, recounted activities of the late 1940s and early 1950s. The events presented in the three books have, since their respective publications, found their way in numerous variations into historical articles or descriptions as well as gemological, mineralogical, or geological papers.1 The rediscovery of Chivor by Francisco Restrepo (figure 1) and the clues that motivated his search have been a particularly popular topic. In general, the events described by Klein, Rainier, or Anderton have been accepted as facts in the literature, and only Klein’s description and dating of the rediscovery