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XI 2012 – 2nd Mindat.org Conference, part II

 

GO TO: Part I

 

Next morning we left Erg Chebbi and drove to Erfoud.

 

Erfoud is a fossil center with many polishing workshops. J. Ralph photo.

 

Polishing limestone with fossils. J. Ralph photo.

 

From Erfoud we drove to the Hameda quarries.

 

Collecting fluorites in Hameda. G. Brandstetter photo.

 

One of the quarries with fluorite-baryte veins. A. Leszczuk photo.

 

Fluorite crystals in situ.

 

Specimen of fluorite collected by Gerhard Brandstetter. G. Brandstetter photo.

 

Specimen collected by Gerhard Brandstetter. G. Brandstetter photo.

 

Gerhard Brandstetter specimen and photo.

 

Team from the bus no 7 happy after succesful collecting. U. Stark photo.

 

Judith Treloar and Penny Wiliamson in Hameda. F. Lazo photo.

 

After collecting we had long drive to our main location - Midelt.

 

Hotel Taddart in Midelt with Mindat.org conference banner. S. Burchmore photo.

 

Hotel Taddart - our main base for the event. A. Gajowniczek photo.

 

Waiting for registration in the hotel lobby. D. K. Joyce photo.

 

Reception in the Taddart hotel. A. Gajowniczek photo.

 

Restaurant in the hotel. A. Gajowniczek photo.

 

Our eating area in the hotel. A. Gajowniczek photo.

 

Rooms in Taddart hotel are very nice.  A. Gajowniczek photo.

 

 

Rooms in Taddart hotel are very nice.  A. Gajowniczek photo.

 

Next day we started with talks. J. Ralph photo.

 

Later we visited new museum in the hotel, there was also possibility of buying specimens. J. Ralph photo.

 

Rob Woodside pretending to be a bear. I. Chau photo.

 

In the afternoon we drove to nearby Mibladen.

 

Conference poster sticked to the road sign by locals :-) L. Schofield photo.

 

Gate to the Mibladen mining village. T. Praszkier photo.

 

Building where we orginzed mineral show, lunch at dinner before it was renovated. T. Praszkier photo.

 

And this is how it looked liked when we enetered there. J. Ralph photo.

 

Dining tent in the cleaned patio. J. Montgomery photo.

 

Laszlo and Elsa Horvath in the front of tent. J. Montgomery photo.

 

Muhammed Laaroussi helping Tom to wash hands in a traditional way. J. Ralph photo.

 

Eating lunch prepared by Mibladen inhabitants for us. A. Leszczuk photo.

 

Eating lunch prepared by Mibladen inhabitants for us. A. Esner photo.

 

After lunch it was the time to visit mineral show. J. Montgomery photo.

 

There was about 30 dealers in 15 rooms. L. Schofield photo.

 

Cobaltocalcites and other specimens offered for sale. L. Schofield photo.

 

Terry Huizing happy with freshly aquired co-clacite for his collection. A. Esner photo.

 

In the evening we had dinner in the same place. L. Schofield photo.

 

Of course there was party too - Krupnik with cerusite from Mibladen :-) J. Ralph photo.

 

What is wrong with you Mark? :-) A. Leszczuk photo.

 

Local women were making traditional henna. L. Schofield photo.

 

Waiting for dinner. A. Leszczuk photo.

 

Liam and Mike waiting for dinner. A. Leszczuk photo.

 

Pietro Merlo and Luca Esposito waiting for dinner. A. Leszczuk photo.

 

During the whole afternoon we had a truck with mobile toilets, we tried to think about all details. A. Leszczuk photo.

 

In the eveing we came back to Midelt.

 

We spent most of the next two days at the presentations, there was around 30 of them.

 

Each evening there was live music, dances and of course parties. C. Broman photo.

 

Each evening there was live music, dances and of course parties. C. Broman photo.

 

One evening we planned outdoor special-secret party. There was a lot of roumors and discusions where it would be held. We kept that as a secret till the last moment. D. K. Joyce photo.

 

This is our party venue - Les O mine - before we prepared it... P. Menducki photo.

 

This is our party venue - Les O mine - before we prepared it... P. Menducki photo.

 

This is our party venue - Les O mine - before we prepared it... T. Praszkier photo.

 

This is our party venue - Les O mine - before we prepared it... T. Praszkier photo.

 

And this is how it looked like when it was ready :-) A. Akhavan photo.

 

Buses with participants are coming. A. Akhavan photo.

 

Going to the party hall. A. Leszczuk photo.

 

Tables with beer, wine and food. A. Akhavan photo.

 

We had a great service and a lot of beer :-) G. Brandstetter photo.

 

Fruits undergroud :-) A. Leszczuk photo.

 

Tables did not looked like it had been a mine. A. Leszczuk photo.

 

Everyone took seats finally. A. Ahavan photo.

 

Organizing team had a short speach (from the left Rachid Adnan, Jolyon Ralph, Muhammed Laaroussi, Tom Praszkier, Agata Leszczuk and Ida Chau). A. Akhavan photo.

 

No, I did not sing :-) We had a concert of live music.

 

Canadian table :) D. K. Joyce photo.

 

Happy John Montgomery.

 

Roger Lang with Ida Chau. A. Kuha photo.

 

Traditional "tea dance" was one of the attractions of the evening. A. Leszczuk photo.

 

Traditional "tea dance" was one of the attractions of the evening. D. K. Joyce photo.

 

Traditional "tea dance" was one of the attractions of the evening. G. Brandstete photo.

 

Party time! J. Ralph photo.

 

Hong Kong team. G. Brandstetter photo.

 

Our drivers also had fun. A. Leszczuk photo.

 

Food is coming! G. Brandstetter photo.

 

Rob Woodside heaving fun. F. Lazo photo.

 

In the party venue there was a lot of pockets with cerusite, some of the participants could not resist... J. Ralph photo.

 

Next day after party we slept longer and spent the whole day visiting localities around Mibladen.

 

Buses ready to drive us to Mibladen. We were devided into 3 groups because some of the workings are too small for over 100 people... L. Schofield photo.

 

One of groups visiting Coud`a workings.

 

D. K. Joyce going underground at Coud’a workings. R. McDougall photo.

 

Hong Kong team in the shaft. S. Burchmore photo.

 

Raymond McDougall working for vanadinite at Coud’a workings. D. K. Joyce photo.

 

Vanadinite in situ in Coud`a workings. A. Akhavan photo.

 

Vandinite from Coud`a. Gerhard Brandstetter specimen and photo.

 

Vandinite on baryte from Coud`a. Gerhard Brandstetter specimen and photo..

 

Another group visiting Les Dalles workings. J. Ralph photo.

 

Michael Treloar at the entrance to Les Dalles. F. Lazo photo.

 

Having tea underground with miners in Les Dalles. G. Brandstetter photo.

 

Liam with one of our guides in Les Dalles. S. Burchmore photo.

 

One of the groups in the front of the Les Dalles workings. A. Kuha photo.

 

Cerusite from Les Dalles. Gerhard Brandstetter specimen and photo.

 

Cerusite with baryte from Les Dalles. Gerhard Brandstetter specimen and photo.

 

We also visited site with dinosaur trackways. J. Ralph photo.

 

Another spot was Les O mine - same where we had the party - this time it looked differently :-) J. Ralph photo.

 

In the evening we came back to Midelt where we had another party :-)

 

Another eveing in Taddart hotel. J. Ralph photo.

 

Having fun in the evening. F. Lazo photo.

 

Having fun in the evening. D. K. Joyce photo.

 

Ray Hill singing, he has a great voice! A. Kuha photo.

 

Next morning we found out that there was heavy snow fall in High Atlas... S. Burchmore photo.

 

Next day we made a trip to Aouli and Sidi Ayed, unfortunately weather got worse and worse.

 

Driving to Aouli.

 

Visiting old mining village in Aouli. A. Akhavan photo.

 

Finally we arrived to Sidi Ayed. S. Burchmore.

 

There was a lot of malachite and azutite to collect there.

 

There was a lot of malachite and azutite to collect there.

 

Unfortunately because of very bad weather we came back to Midelt much earlier than planned.

 

We visited local friends and dealers, here Hong Kong team with Muhammed Laaroussi. M. Ng photo.

 

Because of the heavy snow falls we had to cancel trip to Kerrouchen on the last day.
Before people started leaving home we took photo of all of us in the front of Taddart hotel. M. Mauthner photo.

 

On our way to Casablanca there was a lot of snow. A. Kuha photo.

 

Finally we arrived to Casablanca and flew from there to Warsaw. We were very tired but happy.

 

3rd Mindat.org Conference will take place in June 2014 in Madagascar - see you there!

  

GO TO: Part I



  Comments

As usual, an excellent job, giving those of us who can`t attend a feel for what attendees experienced. Keep it up!
Fenster
2013-01-16 18:48:37
As usual, very nice report. Thank you for the pictures too.

Fluoriteman
2013-01-16 21:43:38
Great report and pics, much appreciated ... must have been a great adventure and a lot of fun had by all.
craig.bosel
2013-01-17 21:50:12
Looks like it was a great time. I really wanted to go but alas I lacked the dough. Any scholarships for Madagascar? Sign me up!! I have the skill set!
SusyMc
2013-02-16 04:02:33


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