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An uninhabited Scottish isle is home to the golden granite used in Olympic curling stones
Kays holds exclusive license to harvest Ailsa Craig granite, producing 1,800 to 2,000 Olympic-standard curling stones annually for global markets.
- Kays Curling holds the only license to harvest granite from Ailsa Craig, owned by Lord David Thomas Kennedy, 9th Marquess of Ailsa, and supplied stones for the Milan Cortina Winter Games.
- The isle's geology shows it is almost entirely microgranite with an essentially unflawed nature, and Ricky English, operations manager at Kays, says blue hone granite's elasticity absorbs collision energy to prevent splitting.
- Engineers drill and insert a gas charge to break rock along natural cracks, then boulders are lifted into containers and ferried back to Girvan Harbour.
- Conservation and logistical limits mean Kays can go years between harvests while protecting gannets and gray seals and using rat traps to prevent rodent reintroduction.
- Founded in Mauchline, Kays produces stones shipped to Qatar and Antarctica, while Ailsa Craig rises about 1,110 feet and formed millions of years ago, Kays says its stones likely won many Olympic medals.
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Striking Gold on Ailsa Craig: The Granite That Steers Olympic Curling
Ailsa Craig, an uninhabited Scottish isle, is famed for its unique granite used to craft curling stones for the Olympics. Kays Curling, the sole licensee, has been supplying these stones since 1924. This high-quality granite, unmatched globally, aids athletes in achieving Olympic glory by perfecting the sport's essentials.
·India
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Associated Press News+22 Reposted by 22 other sources
An uninhabited Scottish isle is home to the golden granite used in Olympic curling stones
Ailsa Craig is an uninhabited isle off the coast of southwest Scotland and the source of the super-dense granite used to make curling stones for the Winter Olympics.
·United States
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Total News Sources24
Leaning Left8Leaning Right2Center10Last UpdatedBias Distribution50% Center
Bias Distribution
- 50% of the sources are Center
50% Center
L 40%
C 50%
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