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Exploring Abandoned Asbestos Mines
“I never had an office for years,” Carole says as we climb the stairs
above and in back of Silverhorn’s showroom to conduct our extended
interview. “I’m frequently on the floor with customers; I like to be
involved,” she explains, as we settle around a small glass-topped desk that
doubles as a conference table in her newly acquired office.
From here, one can look straight out over Highway 101 to the Pacific
Ocean. The adjacent sunroom is where Silverhorn’s impressive collection
of minerals is kept. Just below and outside is a separate entrance to the
workshop/studio where the five European-trained designers and craftsmen
(and one woman) work to create the unique items that Silverhorn turns out.
It’s a long way from Nova Scotia, Canada, where she was born, and
from Toronto, where Mike grew up, Carole muses. Her career track was
that of a social worker, so when asked what drew her to this business,
she admits it was Mike. They were both college students, but he studied
geology and had been collecting and trading since childhood and he
introduced her to the joy of gemstones.
After college, one of the towns where the couple spent a great deal of
time collecting was Asbestos, Quebec, which contained the world’s largest
asbestos mine. They would travel to the mining area from Ottawa and
visit miners’ homes buying crystals from them. A byproduct of the mine’s
output was “a most beautiful garnet, called hessonite garnet,” Carole recalls,
describing it as “a beautiful transparent honey-colored crystal, which was
rare.” Discovery of those garnets, she continues, “was one of the most
important gem finds in North America.”
The Riddings had a summer cottage in Ontario and explored
abandoned mines in what is called “Shield” Country, named for the
granite hills common to the area. “After the mines were abandoned, we’d
Before founding Silverhorn in Banff, Canada in 1976 (they opened in
Montecito in 1984), Mike was an administrator at the National Museum
of Canada in Ottawa; Carole worked in a psychiatric children’s hospital.
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Silverhorn co-owner Carole Ridding is a vital part of the team that
carefully assays every item before setting a final purchase price
Mike Ridding’s (left) background as a collector
and trader has given him unparalleled
knowledge and expertise with which to
determine the value of the various specimens
regularly offered by other traders