The mine sat dormant until the 1980s, when it came back to life - this time through the efforts of a local miner named Geraldo Neves. He worked the same tunnel that Pacheco had begun and extended it 30 meters into the mountainside. Unfortunately for Neves, he discovered nothing, and soon he gave up. Neves was followed by another miner known as "Natinho," a notorious gambler who decided to try his hand at the mine and hit an enormous pocket of bicolored tourmaline and deep red rubel-lite after mining for just 2 meters! The landowner, Deca, who was partners with Natinho, invited Dilermando Rodrigues Melo, a local Bern dealer in Governador Valadares, to come and evaluate the find.
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