Innovators of the Week: Tracy and Beth Day Chief Bring Indigenous Ownership to the Ammolite Industry – Avenue Calgary
April 14, 2025
By acquiring Alberta company Korite, the Day Chiefs now own 95 per cent of the world’s ammonite mining reserves.
Many mining operations are run by giant corporations, rarely by small independent, Indigenous-owned businesses. Beth and Tracy Day Chief are bucking that trend by acquiring ammolite jewellery company Korite — something Beth sees as a full circle moment.
Ammolite, Alberta’s official gemstone, comes from the ammonite fossil, a finite resource found only in southern Alberta on Indigenous reserves. Through their company, Buffalo Rock Mining, the Day Chiefs acquired Korite in late 2024, bringing the ammolite producer under Indigenous ownership and honouring ammolite’s heritage and cultural significance for the Blackfoot people.
