KORITE a Private Canadian Mining Company that Mines Gemstones Called Ammolite and Sells their Gemstones in 28 Countries
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By Dr. Allen Alper, PhD Economic Geology and Petrology, Columbia University, NYC, USA
on 11/5/2016
KORITE is a private Canadian mining company that mines gemstones called ammolite, only found in the Canadian province of Alberta. Ammolite was formed from the fossilized remains of the ammonite shell by millions of years of tectonic pressure. It received gemstone status in 1981. We learned from Jay Maull, President of KORITE, that they are the largest ammolite producer in the world, controlling over 90% of the resources, selling their products in 28 countries around the world and rapidly expanding. Starting now, KORITE is expanding their marketing efforts into the United States and they welcome any inquiries about the gemstone.
Dr. Allen Alper: This is Dr. Allen Alper, Editor-in-chief of Metals News, interviewing Jay Maull who is president of KORITE. Could you tell me a bit about ammolite and the various products you mine?
Mr. Jay Maull: KORITE mines a gemstone called ammolite, which is only found in Southern Alberta. It's the only place in the world. Ammolite was formed from the fossilized remains of the ammonite shell by millions of years of tectonic pressure. Ammonites are an extinct group of marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. It was a sea creature that lived 70 million years ago in the inland sea in a period called the Cretaceous. The formation that we mine in Alberta is called the Bearpaw Formation which was the ancient sea floor, and it spans over about a 30 million year period.
To date, that's the only place in the world that ammolite has been found. You find ammonite fossils all over the world but they have no color. It's a very specific area where something happened, as the ammonites fossilized, that preserved their shell and turned it into a colorful gemstone.
Dr. Allen Alper: That's great! That's really a unique occurrence!
Mr. Jay Maull: Unique is a very good word for it.
Dr. Allen Alper: Could you tell me a little bit about the different qualities you have and how you distribute your product?
Mr. Jay Maull: Sure. There's a full range of ammolite qualities that range from what we call a B grade, which is one color, all the way to triple-A grade stone that has all of the rainbow colors. The prices increase accordingly depending on the grade. The top grades, of course, the same as diamonds, are much rarer than the other grades. In percentages, only a few percent of our total production is the top grades of ammolite.
We market all over the world, from Asia to Europe, South America, US, Canada, Australia, everywhere. Different markets demand different grades. One thing of special note is that the Feng Shui masters around the world have really taken a liking to it, and they call it the seven color prosperity stone. As Feng Shui is based on color, this stone is very attractive to them, which certainly helps our marketing efforts.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds really good. Could you tell me a bit about your plans for the rest of 2016 going into 2017?
Mr. Jay Maull: As you probably saw in our press release, we are the largest ammolite producer in the world. We control over 90% of the resources, and we sell our products in 28 countries around the world now. Due to demand we have had to increase our mine size by about 50%. We've opened a large parcel of land that's part of our proven resources parcel. We'll be mining through that over the next year. Then, of course, we plan to grow again in 2018 to keep up with the demand.
Dr. Allen Alper: That sounds very good. Could you tell me a bit about your background and your team?
Mr. Jay Maull: I've been involved in ammolite for 27 years now. It's been a lifetime of building markets for this product. This gemstone received recognition in 1981 and I started in ammolite in 1989. I've been marketing it around the world for 27 years. I've seen it come from its infancy to where it is today.
Dr. Allen Alper: That's excellent, so you are like the pioneer of ammolite.
Mr. Jay Maull: One of them, for sure.
Dr. Allen Alper: Very few people make a contribution like that. That’s really wonderful! Could you tell us more about your team, your organization?
Mr. Jay Maull: Most of our team are seasoned veterans. They've been with the company for years and years, most for over 20 years, and have helped build KORITE from the ground up. We have years and years of in-house experience in design, production, and marketing. We have processing facilities in Canada and two in Asia. The mine, of course, is only located here, but it's a world-class operation. We have won environmental reclamation awards, so our mining team is very good at what they do. We look after the land and it looks after us.
Dr. Allen Alper: That's great! Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Mr. Jay Maull: Presently, KORITE is making a large marketing effort in the United States. We're aggressively expanding our dealer network throughout the United States, and welcome any inquiries about the gemstone. We like to work with new dealers and help them grow their markets and sell a product that they've never had in their stores before. Ammolite doesn't look like anything else in their showcase and has an incredible story behind it. We consistently see growth in dealer's sales when they try the product.
Dr. Allen Alper: What are the various types of jewelry ammolite can be used in?
Mr. Jay Maull: We make pendants, earrings, rings, cufflinks, watches and pretty much any type of jewelry you can think of.
Dr. Allen Alper: That's great! Amazingly beautiful! Is KORITE a private company?
Mr. Jay Maull: Yes, we are a 100% Canadian owned, private company.
Dr. Allen Alper: You have really created something wonderful!
Mr. Jay Maull: Thank you.
http://www.korite.com/
customerservice@korite.com
1-800-917-2228
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