Where is Amethyst Found?
Amethysts are Found on all Five Continents

Africa - Zambia, Madagascar, Namibia, and South Africa

Often referred to as African Amethyst – the varieties found in Africa have smaller crystals and are richer in color with the highest production coming from Zambia.

The color of Madagascar amethyst can vary from purple reddish to purple bluish and the country is estimated to supply 5% of the global production.

Amethyst found in Namibia displays zones of color often interspersed with white quartz resulting in chevron type patterns.

A unique variety called Cactus Quartz, which has a layer of smaller spiky crystals covering the main crystals, is only found in South Africa.

Australia

Amethyst is found in small quantities in Australia and the crystals are small with dark coloring. It is mined primarily in the Asburton region of Western Australia, known as Wyloo amethyst.

Asia - Russia, South Korea, India and Sri-Lanka

Two well-known high grade variants came from Russia – Deep Russian and Deep Siberian which have deep purple hues.  These are some of the oldest known deposits and are now mostly depleted, but these terms are still used to describe high grade amethysts in the jewelry trade.

Europe - Hungary, Austria, Germany and Italy

Hungary produces a lilac coloured amethyst drusy. A drusy is the geological term to describe formations of hundreds of tiny crystals coating the surface of a rock.

Austria has the largest opencast amethyst vein in the world near Maissau and has built a museum park to showcase the mine.

North America - USA, Canada and Mexico

Amethyst is mined in the American states of Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, and Maine and it is the official state gemstone of South Carolina.

If you’d like to do a bit of searching yourself, check out Rock Chasing’s guide on where you can find amethyst (in the USA). Going out and getting your hands dirty is a fun way to add amethyst to your collection and there are many ways and many places that you can do it.

Canadian Amethyst has unique red hematite mineral inclusions and the largest mine in North America is Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Veracruse amethyst comes from Mexico and has a tall prismatic formation.

There is an extensive amethyst collection from the USA and elsewhere at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.

South America - Brazil and Uruguay

One of the largest amethyst deposits in the world were discovered in the 19^th century in Brazil which subsequently caused amethyst to lose its status as one of the most valuable gemstones, and today Brazil is still the largest global producer.

Many amethyst deposits in Brazil and Uruguay are in geode formations. These are hollow rocks, formed originally from bubbles in a volcanic event, filled with crystals.

The largest amethyst geode found to date was discovered in Uruguay in 2007 and is called The Empress of Uruguay. The massive geode weighs 2.5 tons and is 3.27 meters tall.