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After only a 1,5 month of a break we start the new Sprifer Team trips season. I have just came back from India and ina few days we are leaving to Morocco for two weeks. So the oncoming time promised to be interesting and we hopefully reach in great specimens!

The March trip to India lasted about two weeks and I had a pleaseure of travelling in the company of Scott Werschky – Miner`s Lunchbox (www.minerslunchbox.com), who turned out to be a great companion while exploring quarries and geodea as well as in evening parties :-) It seems that this trip initiated a longer cooperation between us.

The route of the trip ran similarly to our last expedition (see here) so I am not going to describe it in detail, but I will only focus on some differences and news.

At first we were surprised by some unpleasant information – the old quarries in Bombay are already completly unaccesibe – Goodbye famous okenites, prehnites and other fine minerals! Moreover the quarries in Lonavala have temporaliy stopped the production beacuase of some legal problems, and in Wagholi only low quality cavansites are found currently. However the visitis in other localities werethe source of some thrills in the form of gigant geodes filled with crystals.

As always Jalgaon was `the hottest` event of the programm of India trips – the quantity of geodes and the quality of crystals that fill them are unrivalled... but this time it was even better than usually !! After a period of longer limited exploatation some old quarries were opened again and the ammount of found geodes and hence produstion of specimens increased significantly.

What is more in the `mian` quarry the upper level, that products one of the best epistilbite specimens in the world was opened. Among many geodes that we had an opportunity to see the most spectacular was the huge (about 2 meters wide) cavity with pink stilbites and light green apophyllites…. AWESOME!

When we visiting many localities, monuments and temples we dedicated the rest of our time to explore the region of Shakur and Ahmadnagar, where unfortunately we did not find anything interesting apart from hundreds of stilbite and scolecite veins.

Instead of detailed descripions we are posting below some photographs showing the route of our trip, the most interesting localities and specimens.

Hope you will enjoy wathching them.

Tomasz Praszkier

 

 

This is the area we visited. Google Earth Map.

 

This is the area we visited. Google Earth Map.

 

Our route from Bombay to Lonavala. Google Earth Map.

 

The second locality we visited - Lonavala. Google Earth Map.

 

Lonavala quarry - it has been closed for a few months. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The old weathered pocket, Lonavala. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our route to Wadgaon. Google Earth Map.

 

The Wadgaon quarry, a huge pocket visible in the quarry wall. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Scott is approaching the geode. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our friend Javed and his find. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Mesolite in the pocket. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Some nice mesolites that we bought. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Some nice mesolites that we bought. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our route to Indori. Google Earth Map.

 

New mesolites (most probobably) with mordenites from the Indori quarry. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Mesolites, mordenites, apophyllites and stilbites from the Indori quarry. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our route to Wagholi. Google Earth Map.

 

View to the quarries in Wagholi. Google Earth Map.

 

The Wagholi quarries. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Scott in Wagholi - note reddish andesites at the bottom of the quarry - this is the area where cavansites and pentagonites occur. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Cavernous zone in andezite with some cavansites visible. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

A freshly mined pentagonite. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Specimens` trimming . Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Freshly mined cavansites and pentagonites. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The miners are showing our article about the previous trip to India. Some of them are in the photos in it. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Pentagonite and cavansite. Coll. Spirifer. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Pentagonites from the Gargoti Museum in Sinnar. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our route to Aurangabad. Google Earth Map.

 

Small hill "eaten" by quarries, Aurangabad area. Google Earth Map.

 

View from the Aurangabad quarry. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The Aurangabad quarry, some geodes are visible. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Calcite from Aurangabad (from our previous trip to India). Coll. Spirifer. Fot. Scovil.

 

Baryte from Aurangabad (from our previous trip to India). Coll. Spirifer. Fot. J. Scovil.

 

Baryte with chalecedony and mordenite from Aurangabad, unfortunately badly repaired. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Huge calcite and chalcedny from Aurangabad. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Cotton harvest. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our route to Ajanta. Google Earth Map.

 

The gate to the city of Ajanta. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

 Women are washing and drying clothes on pilar jointing basalts. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The monkey in Ajanta. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Famous Ajanta Caves - rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century B.C.,
the most beautiful in whole India. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Famous Ajanta Caves - rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century B.C.,
the most beautiful in whole India. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Famous Ajanta Caves - rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the second century B.C.,
the most beautiful in whole India. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Scott and a basalt elephant with agate veins. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Scott and sculptures with agates` veins in Ajanta caves. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Sculptures in Ajanta caves with mineralised veins. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Sculptures in Ajanta caves. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Inside of one of the numerous caves, Ajanta. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Inside of one of the numerous caves, Ajanta. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Inside of one of  the numerous caves, Ajanta, Scott is not one of the sculptures :). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Sculptures in Ajanta caves. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Wall paintings in Ajanta caves. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

A street in Ajanta. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Javed and some interesting specimens of scolecite and stilbite. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Examining houndreds of specimens in dealers` houses. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Spectacular scolecite from Sangamner area. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

A nice apophyllite from Sangamner area. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Cavansite before trimming. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Trimming of specimens. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Cavansite after trimming (the same one that was showed 2 photos earlier). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Going down to the well to examine the pockets. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Going down to the well to examine the pockets. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Going down to the well to examine the pockets. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Already down in a deep well. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our route to Sailani Baba Temple. Google Earth Map.

 

The entrance to the Sailani Baba Temple. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Sailani Baba Temple. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Sailani Baba Temple - people who are thought to be mad are brought here by their families and chained here till they `get better`. We believe that majority of mineral collectors should be brought here :-) Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Sailani Baba Temple - people who are thought to be mad are brought here by their families and chained here till they `get better`. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Sailani Baba Temple. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Sailani Baba Temple. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our route to Jalgaon. Google Earth Map.

 

Sawda (so called "Jalgaon") - the most famous quarries in the whole India. Google Earth Map.

 

The Sawda quarries are visible. Google Earth Map.

 

Recentely reopened quarry in Sawda/Jalgaon. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Sawda, a lot of geodes with crystals are visible in the wall. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Getting the specimens out of the pocket. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Getting the specimens out of the pocket. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Getting the specimens out of the pocket. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Freshly mined specimen - from the geode showed in the photo above. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The "Main" quarry in Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Cows in the middle of the quarry, an unusual view. Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Miners in Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Cows having bath in the ``lake`` in the quarry. Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Scott and the geodes in Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Javed and the geodes in Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

One of the geodes in Sawda full of apophyllite and stilbite, . Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Scott trying to get some specimens on his own. Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

As you see he succeed. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Scott and a huge geode. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Miners trying to take the geode out of the quarry wall. Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

A geode partly "freed" from the wall of the quarry. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Geode with apophyllite and and calcite. Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Geode with apophyllite and stilbite. Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

And again a geode with apophyllite. Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

There are really a lot of nice pockets in Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Geode with quartz pseudostalactites Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

One of the more interesting geodes - with a big undamaged calcite. Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Scott and a very spectacular huge geode with light green apophyllite and pink stilbite
- it was the most spectacular one on this trip. Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

An interesting specimen of apophyllite pseudosatalctite with stilbite from Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

An interesting specimen of apophyllite pseudosatalctite with stilbite from Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

A very big, impresive calcite from Sawda, we saw in Gargotti Museum. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Well saturated green apophyllite rose on stilbite from Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Beautiful green apophyllite with stilbite from Sawda. We saw it in the Gargotti Museum. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Interesting quartzs` pseudostalactites from Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Quartz preudostalactite from Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Another unusual quartz pseudostalactite (the local people call them "corrals") from Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Big cavity from Sawda offered by dealer. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Don`t know who was bigger Javed or the specimen from Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

A very large specimen of apophyllite with calcite from Sawda. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our route to Burhanpur. Google Earth Map.

 

The city of Burhanpur. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Burhanpur. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Scott visiting a beautiful XVI century mosk in Burhanpur. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

XVI century mosk in Burhanpur. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The keeper of the mosk. Burhanpur. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our route to the ancient city of Mandu. Google Earth Map.

 

Typical view in the Deccan Trapps. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

A street in Mandu. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The rookery with pottery in the front of the remains of an ancient city of Mandu.
People here do not care too much for the ancient monuments. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Part of the city of Mandu (city built between VI and XVII century) and the holiday market. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

A shop with traditional Indian colorful bracelets. Mandu. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Mandu - a very old architecture (VI - XVII century) and todays life . Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

A colorful temple in Mandu. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

View to the ancient conservatory . Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu built between (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

  

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Scott with a nice backgroung. Mandu. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The ancient architecture in Mandu and its todays life. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Note the remains in the foreground - they are scattered everywhere in the city. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Scott and Javed. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

The city of Mandu (built between VI and XVII century). Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

A lorry crash - something really popular on the Indian roads. Indian drivers have very specific attitude to the safety on the roads. I dont recommend driving there at night ...or actually at all :-) . Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our route to Karakuani. Google map.

 

People from the village offering some amethiste. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Amethiste geode from Karakuani area. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Amethiste geodes from Karakuani area. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

A botryoidal fluorite from Karakuani area. Fot. G. Bijak.

 

Geode with laumontite and calcite and Tomek`s head. Somewhere in Madhya Prades state Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Geode with laumontite. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

A laumontite crystal. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our route to Yeola. Google Earth Map.

 

The Yeola quarry is visible. Google Earth Map.

 


The Yeola quarry - this is where the most famous, transparent powelites come from. Fot. T. Praszkier.

  

Geode with scolecite. Yeola quarry. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 

Our route to Shirdi. Google Earth Map.

 


Shirdi quarries are visible. Google Earth Map.

 


The Shirdi quarry -  this is where the most famous okenites on amethiste come from - but among Indian people the city is known better because of the Sai Baba temple - this is one of the most visited pilgrimage centers. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


Okenites on amethiste from Shirdi quarry. Coll. Spirifer. Fot. Z. Ruta.

 


Our route to Mahodari. Google Earth Map.

 


The Mahodari quarries. Google Earth Map.

 


The Mahodari quarries. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


A big pocket in the Mahodari quarry. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


Scott trying to enter the pocket in Mahodari quarry. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


Inside big pocket in Mahodari. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


A freshly mined scolecite and stilbite specimen. Mahodari. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


Our route to Sinnar. Google Earth Map.

 


The "Gargoti Museum" in Sinnar. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


Ganesha (one of the best-known and most widely worshipped deities in Hinduism) made of quartz. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


A huge geode with apophyllite and stilbite, `Gargoti Museum`. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


A big mesolite from Poona, "Gargoti Museum". Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


A showcase with scolecites - note its size. "Gargoti Museum". Sinnar. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


A big specimens of apophyllite and stilbite from Nasik area , "Gargoti Museum", Sinnar. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


A spectacular specimen of the famous Rhauri apophyllite, "Gargoti Museum, Sinnar. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


A huge bryl from Tamil Nadu, "Gargoti Museum", Sinnar. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


Calcite and stilbites, "Gargoti Museum", Sinnar. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


A lot of mesolites - they seem to be asking to be stroked :-), "Gargoti Museum", Sinnar. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


Really big specimens from Jalgaon, "Gargoti Museum", Sinnar. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


Our route to Shakur. Google Earth Map.

 


Deccan Trapps in Sakhur area. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


An unhappy Indian woman. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


Scolecites used to produce a wide range of decorations. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 


Powellites on stilbite from the Sakhur area. Fot. T. Praszkier.

 



  Comments

ZEESHAN KHAN JAVED KHAN
Zeeshan khan
2021-12-18 18:18:16


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