Tourists dig for gems at Lapland amethyst mine

(1 Jan 2023) FINLAND AMETHYST MINE

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
LENGTH: 6:35
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Luosto, Finland - 6 December 2022
1. Wide of entrance to Lampivaara Amethyst Mine
2. Tilt up of entrance
3. Close of sign reading (Finnish) "Lampivaara Amethyst Mine"
4. Various of amethyst stones found in the mine
5. Various of Pyha-Luosto National Park which surrounds mine
6. Tilt up from snow-covered exterior mining area to trees in national park
7. Various of tourists arriving
8. Various of wooden steps down into interior mine
9. Various of tourists mining for amethysts
10. Wide of Kari Sunela, area manager, Arctic Amethyst Ltd, digging
11. Close of Sunela digging
12. Mid of Sunela blowing dirt of rock
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Kari Sunela, area manager, Arctic Amethyst Ltd:
"Tourist, they will work in here. So of course we are working as well, but tourists, they are really doing that treasure hunting themselves. Because they will have one amethyst. Every visitor, all the visitors, they are going to have one amethyst. Of course, there's some some rules like that one amethyst, it has to fit inside your palm so it doesn't have to be a huge one. But one stone. But they will work, digging from that surface and now they are hunting that purple, transparent stone."
14. Various of tourists digging for amethysts
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Kari Sunela, area manager, Arctic Amethyst Ltd:
"It's just getting back to what it was before the COVID-19. Now it has been a couple of years, a bit lower. But now we are getting back to that. And of course, we are aiming for a little bit more but of course we are also...sustainable is anyway a key word in here, that we are working by hands, sustainable every section. So actually there's certain limits so we can't take more than than it is possible to take, like if you think (in an) ecological way."
16. Various of Marsha, tourist from Malaysia, digging for amethysts
17.  SOUNDBITE (English) Marsha, tourist from Malaysia:
"It's mostly gravel and stones. But I got help them from them and I think some amethysts, not that sure, couldn't differentiate it as well. And so I'm putting everything inside a bucket and who knows?"
18. Various of Abernethy family, tourists from UK, digging for amethysts
19. Mid of Chloe Abernethy and her mum looking at amethyst
20. Close of amethyst
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Chloe Abernethy, tourist from UK:
"This one is so big and it's my favourite. It's kind of like a crystal."
22. Tourist kissing her amethyst
23. Various of tourist showing his amethyst
24. Sunela looking at large amethyst, placing it into tourist's hand to show it is small enough for her to be allowed to keep
25. SOUNDBITE (English) Kari Sunela, area manager, Arctic Amethyst Ltd:
"Best quality, when it's like a gemstone quality, it's really looking, if you just look optical (with your eyes), so it's looking like a piece of purple glass. So absolutely transparent, if there's no fractures or anything else, or kind of knots or anything in there. Semi-precious quality is little bit more fuzzy. So basically it's transparent and it's purple, but it's not as clear as gemstone quality."
26. Various of tourists in mine
27. Various of tourists walking up steps to leave mine
28. Various of exterior of mine complex
LEADIN:
Digging through dirt might not sound like a typical holiday activity, but tourists in Finland are doing just that.
A commercial mine in Lapland lets people crack open rocks in search of amethysts.
STORYLINE:
Deep inside the Pyhä-Luosto National Park sits the Lampivaara Amethyst Mine.
But so far, she hasn't had much luck.

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