Scottish isle is home to the golden granite used in Olympic curling stones

Kays Curling on Ailsa Craig, which has made all the curling stones for the Milan Cortina Winter Games, has a history with the Olympics dating back to the first winter edition.

AILSA CRAIG, Scotland — If you’re looking to strike gold — silver or bronze, too — look to Ailsa Craig.

This uninhabited isle 10 miles off the coast of southwest Scotland is the source of the super-dense granite used to make curling stones for the Winter Olympics.

Jim English, co-owner of Kays Curling, took a few seconds to evaluate a boulder during a recent visit. He assessed it for big cracks and large specks on the surface.

“It’s not just a case of landing a boat and then looking for granite. There’s a particular type of granite we’re looking for,” he said in the shadow of a 19th century lighthouse that is no longer manned. “We look for ones that have got really tight surface pattern.”

Add NBC News to GoogleLindsey Vonn makes stunning comeback, winning World Cup race at 4101:16The common green granite comprising the body of the stone is found on one end, and the blue hone granite that forms the running surface is on the other side of the “craggy ocean pyramid” as poet John Keats described the island more than a century before the first Winter Games.