How Much Are Ox Gallstones Worth in Cote d’Ivoire?

The theft of cattle gallstones has rekindled a lot of curiosity about what they’re worth. The beef industry’s entire production of these tiny gems amounts to about 200kg a year, and they’re incredibly rare.

Ox gallstones are in high demand as a precious Chinese herbal medicine. They can cost as much as HK$19,000 for one tael, which is US$65 per gram.

Origin

The Ivory Coast, also known as Cote d’Ivoire, is a country in western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea. It is a little larger than New Mexico and has neighbors including Liberia, Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Ghana.

The region attracted both French and Portuguese traders in the 15th century, as well as colonial slaves in the 19th. In 1842, French traders obtained concessions from local tribes for the use of their lands, and Cote d’Ivoire eventually became an autonomous republic in the French Union.

When Cote d’Ivoire gained independence, it was already a major producer of cocoa and coffee. As the country’s stability grew, it began to attract laborers from surrounding nations, especially Burkina Faso. In 1944, the young Felix Houphouet-Boigny, son of a Baoule chief, formed the first agricultural trade union for African cocoa farmers. He pushed for the removal of forced labor in the cocoa and coffee sectors and was soon elected to the French Parliament.

His pragmatism and commitment to human rights led him to win a contested election in 1959, and he served as the nation’s president until December 1999 when he was overthrown by a military coup. He was later replaced by runner-up Laurent Gbagbo.

Although his rule was short, he left an indelible mark on the country’s history and its development. As president, he was the architect of many of its most important reforms, such as a national healthcare system and a unified currency.

He is also credited with creating the world’s first national anti-drug policy, which has helped to keep the country’s drugs out of the hands of armed groups and other terrorists. He remains a key member of the UN’s International Counter-Terrorism Academy and is considered one of the most influential African leaders today.

In 2003, Gerard inherited his father’s business, Sunshine Trading, which focused on a small niche: gallstone sales to the meat industry. Until then, it had been an exclusively boots on the ground operation, where he would buy gallstones straight from slaughterhouse management.

But then Gerard decided to take a different approach. Instead of putting his cash straight into the gutties’ pockets, he started educating abattoirs in how to dry, preserve and sell cattle gallstones. He also started installing waist-high, stainless steel vaults that kept the gallstones away from the sticky fingers of the gutties.

Quality

Gallstones are tiny spherical rocks that form in the gall bladders of cattle, and are often found during the bile extraction process at abattoirs. They are most commonly found in older slaughter animals, like cows and bulls, and are a byproduct that meat processing plants can profit from.

In Asia, gallstones are a highly prized commodity for their purported medicinal benefits as an alternative medicine ingredient that can help treat a wide range of ailments and illnesses. They are especially popular as a component of a number of traditional Chinese herbal remedies.

The bilirubin that forms in the stones is an antioxidant, and can be used to treat a variety of medical conditions, including sore throats, fevers, indigestion and hepatitis. However, the bilirubin content of the stones can also lead to liver damage and disease if they are not properly diluted or surgically removed.

That’s why most major Australian abattoirs collect them, and have for years. It’s just another ancillary byproduct that can be turned into a profit for the plant, along with horns, hooves and blood.

One of the best places to get a good quality supply of cattle gallstones is Cote d’Ivoire, where a family business has been supplying cattle gallstones since 1988. They will only buy gallstones that have a natural smell of healthy, BSE-free cattle and are light yellow or golden in colour.

They must be dry and not contaminated with liver stones, kidney stones, piping, moldy stones or bloodstones or any other stones from other animals. They are shipped via FedEx, and delivered on a monthly basis.

In Hong Kong, the market for ox gallstones is huge as they are widely used as a proprietary Chinese herbal remedy. They can cost as much as HK$19,000 for a single tael, which is about US$65 per gram.

The price per gram can vary significantly from buyer to buyer, depending on quality and quantity. Some buyers will pay a premium for higher-quality cattle gallstones, while others will offer less for lower-quality products.

But no matter where the source of these precious gems comes from, the quality is usually very high, and a small pellet that weighs three grams can command a retail price as high as US$195 in Hong Kong. So it’s not surprising that beef processing plants across the United States are noticing the potential for a huge export opportunity for this precious byproduct of slaughtering a cattle.

Market

During the 80s and 90s, meat workers who scavenged for gallstones in their spare time earned an extra bonus or gratuity at work. But in the past decade, as slaughterhouses tightened their labour rules, sticky-fingered gutties have had to get more stealthy if they want to pocket a tidy profit.

But even in the shadows, a handful of buyers are ready to pay a premium for these stones. They can fetch between $57 and $60 USD per gram, depending on their quality, shape, size and other factors. And the prices are expected to rise as demand for bilirubin-based medicines in China increases.

That’s why gallstone brokers like Sunshine Trading–a family business based in Sydney–have been sending their team around Australia’s biggest abattoirs to buy up the discarded stones, drying them out and storing them until they can be sold on. Gerard tells VICE that he expects this practice to continue for the foreseeable future.

One of the key factors that makes a stone worth its weight in gold is its quality: the more golden, full-bodied, pyramid-shaped and pristine it is, the more valuable it is. Similarly, the darker and pitted the stones, the less they’re worth.

The same applies to the colour: a dark, rusty rock is far less desirable than a perfectly golden specimen. Moreover, some of the best buyers will only pay if a stone is free of blemishes or lumps of calcite: this is to ensure it remains undamaged as it travels the world.

In addition, buyers will only buy a stone that has been stored in a dark, dry environment–bilirubin is photosensitive and degenerates in light. Hence, many gallstone collectors will stash their finds in sealed containers inside biscuit tins or egg cartons to reduce their likelihood of breaking during transport.

These precautions might seem excessive to a layman, but they’re worth their weight in gold. After all, a stone that’s intact and untouched is like a gold nugget: something you can keep in your pocket for years to come, with no risk of it breaking or losing value.

Payment

As a natural product, the value of ox gallstones can vary greatly. Their value depends on their dryness, colour and texture, as well as whole and broken pieces. The highest priced stones are smooth and lustrous golden specimens with no pitting. Dark and pitted specimens, as well as those with calcium inclusions (white) are of less value.

Historically, ox gallstones were used to obtain pure unconjugated bilirubin for multiple therapeutic purposes. These ox gallstones were isolated by adding lime (CaCO3) to ox bile, which precipitated the bilirubin pigment. This procedure was widely practiced in rural areas of China for thousands of years and yielded a highly effective drug with several useful pharmacological properties. It was believed to cure hyperpyrexia-induced infantile convulsions and other disorders such as hepatobiliary diseases associated with jaundice, pyogenic tonsillitis, and bronchitis.

These ox gallstones were also used to treat hypertension and hepatitis in patients with bile acid deficiency following ileectomy for Crohn’s disease. The therapeutic effects of both natural ox gallstones and artificially prepared calcium bilirubinate salt are similar, including antipyretic, anticonvulsive, antihypertensive, bacterial growth inhibition, and expectorant properties. Moreover, these compounds are also inotropic and act as cardiac muscle relaxants.

In addition, ox gallstones were used as a component of traditional Chinese herbal formulas for treatment of many other conditions. The preparations were usually combined with coptis root (Huanglian), baikal skullcap root (Scutellaria baicalensis), gentian root (Ginseng), coptis root (Coptis chinensis), and Chinese angelica (Angelica sinensis).

It was believed that ox gallstones had a tranquilizing effect, especially on children. Moreover, they were also a valuable antipyretic and diuretic agent in treating polydipsia and diarrhea.

Today, ox gallstones are still very valuable drugs in Chinese herbal medicine. They are either sold as a natural gallstone or combined with other ingredients to make a proprietary Chinese medicine. They have a retail price of about HK$19,000 for one tael, or US$65 per gram.

Beef processors who are looking to expand their operations should take heed of this potential for profitable exports, as the price could be well above $20,000 a kilogram. But it should be remembered that these are incredibly rare products. Only a small percentage of cattle are capable of producing gallstones, and it is an expensive process to extract them from the animal.

How Much Are Ox Gallstones Worth in Cote d’Ivoire?