CURLING stones, used by team GB in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, may originate closer to home than we realise.

The stones used in the 2018 Games are all precisely made and all derive from the small, uninhabited island 10 miles off the coast of Girvan, Ailsa Craig.

Kays Curling have the sole rights to harvest Ailsa Craig granite for curling stone production.

According to their website Kays have the sole lease to remove the only known source of the following three granites, Ailsa Craig Common Green Granite, Ailsa Craig Blue Hone Granite and Ailsa Craig Red Hone Granite in the world.

It is these rich natural resources that allow them to provide the world’s best curling stones.

Harvesting between 1600 tons of Ailsa Craig Common Green granite and 400 tons of Ailsa Craig Blue Hone granite is an operation that takes place as required.

The granite is then transported to the mainland by boat to be stored in our secure facility until we start the process of transforming the granite boulders into the finished curling stones.

From the mid-nineteenth century the island has been quarried for its rare type of micro-granite with riebeckite (known as “Ailsite”), which is used to make stones for the sport of curling. 

From 2004, 60–70 per cent of all curling stones in use were made from granite from the island and it is one of only two sources for all stones in the sport, the other being the Trefor Granite Quarry in Wales.

Kays of Scotland has been making curling stones since 1851 and has the exclusive rights to the Ailsa Craig granite, granted by the Marquess of Ailsa.

The last “harvest” of Ailsa Craig granite by Kays took place in 2013, after a break of 11 years; 2,000 tonnes were harvested, sufficient to fill anticipated orders until at least 2020.

Great Britain’s women curlers missed out on a second successive Olympic bronze medal as they lost 5-3 to Japan on Saturday.