Motor race for minerals of the Southern and Middle Urals

New spring - a new (already relatively) SUV - a new field season - you have to go somewhere. When you live in the middle of the Central Russian plain, there is almost nothing nearby, and you can’t go very far. Therefore, the choice is not very large. I haven't been to the Urals for a long time...

And here is the plan. From Moscow by car to the southern Urals, from there up with a stop at the famous Ural points to the middle Urals, and from there back to Moscow. At the same time, I will combine business with pleasure - I will visit my relatives in Vladimir and Yekaterinburg. Which was done with spending the night with them in each of these cities. The mileage of this single route is 4400 km. I planned to arrive in the South Urals immediately after the May ones. Especially after, so as not to hustle at points with other stone lovers. But due to events in my family, I was forced to leave much later and arrived at Yuzhny in the last third of May. And this is a completely different weather, which did not play the best role in my hard work ...

The journey by car took a day and a half. Everything went well. Two impressions:

1. Bashkiria. All fields are studded with pumping stations that pump oil from underground.

2. Ural mountains. When I passed Bashkiria and the Belaya River, mountains stood in front of me. But the destination in the Urals is still 350 km away. It seems to be too early for the Ural Mountains. But they were. Before, in fact, I didn’t see the Ural mountains: either I flew over them by plane, or passed by train at night, or, as in the Polar Urals, I reached the nearest one and returned. On the geographical map of Russia, the Ural Range is only 5mm wide. But in life it is at least 200 km of different full-fledged ridges, mountains and hills. That's why they got in front of me earlier than I expected. I rode through them not along a serpentine, of course, as in Georgia, but along a pretty decently winding mountain road. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take pictures of the most beautiful places - it’s impossible to stop so as not to interfere with traffic.

At the beginning, I did not plan to go to the Novotemirskoye opal deposit. I was there five years ago. But the raw materials began to run out - why not drop by, the hook is only a hundred kilometers. Last time I went there from the district center almost to the village by taxi, and then with a backpack with legs. The report on the last trip to the Novotemirsky quarry is here. This time I will not describe in detail. But how much more convenient it is to have your own SUV for these purposes! .. The mine, which I deepened last time to the chest, turned out to be two-thirds covered, but for my purposes I collected the necessary raw materials without digging very much. But this time I got to the bottom of a vein of chrysopal, which is located in the side of the quarry.

Unfortunately, the life was very fractured. I scored fragments of opal of a pleasant yellow-green color. If last time I spent several days at this point, then this time - only a few hours. I drove the car straight into the quarry, loaded the mined into it and drove further along the route planned in Moscow.

   On the way back from the quarry, I passed a birch grove approaching the road. It was about her that the taxi driver said that roe deer often come out onto the road here. And exactly! Directly on it, at the very top of the hill, clearly displayed by its outline against the sky, stood a roe deer. I slowed down and began to slowly drive up, fumbling for the camera with my hand. But no ... The roe deer let it go ten meters and, jumping over the ditch with a long jump, galloped into the field, from time to time and there making high long jumps, as if hovering in the air. I saw gazelles jumping in Kenya. And ours will be more graceful! .. Subsequently, in another place on a country road, I came across another roe deer.

   There are a lot of mineralogical points in the Southern and Middle Urals. And I had to drive through the Urals seven hundred kilometers. Unfortunately, I visited the points less than planned, abandoning them along the way because of the heat that was all day: 35 degrees in the shade. There was no desire to strain at such a temperature. But in order.

    I wanted to stop by a polymetallic quarry, which is not far from the village of Borisovka. For a long time I made my way to him along forest roads and virgin lands. But didn't get there. The road ended, and the offline map, it turned out, loaded incorrectly, and it was not clear where to go. But along the way I came across another abandoned quarry. There was a large exit of something blue grainy crumbly. Maybe it's ratovkite, or maybe decomposed azurite. It will have to be determined. I took one for myself.

    The next point worth mentioning is a small slate quarry near the village of Nikolskoye. They promised crusts of bright turquoise. But he didn't meet one. Only a few crusts of malachite. And it's not so interesting anymore.

But among the stones I found a banknote of fifty rubles. A trifle - but nice! Never before have my efforts to find a stone been so quickly converted into money. It's a pity a small fraction of money ... In one place, golden with tarnished crusts on slate were caught. I assumed it was goethite. Subsequently, diagnostics on a probe in the Fersman Museum confirmed this assumption.

From the top of the hill there was a view of the village and the lake. Horses grazed on its shores, cows stood up to their belly in water at a watering place, and two swans swam in the middle of the lake. Pastoral, and more!

Further - Murashkina mountain. I saw good crystals from there. Specifically where to dig I do not know. I only know that in the forest near the village. Once upon a time there was a gold mine there. He suggested that a bald spot in the forest, slightly visible from space, could be this point. It's good that he put it on the map at home. Indeed, there is a forest road leading to it. I'm going uphill. I hope that Mount Murashkina. In the middle of the mountain I understand that I am going where I need to: I meet huge workings, amazing in scale. It can be seen that the workings are ancient - birches have already grown in them, forty years old. There is also a round deep hole in the ground with an area of 10 square meters. There is still snow in it. Maybe it was the mine.

It’s scary to climb into these voids - blocks are very hanging. But still went down into one cave. On the way, the leg falls through the last year's foliage between the large stones of the dump. It’s good that he didn’t break, but he skinned his leg decently. I feel a trickle of blood run down my leg and into my boot. For some reason it doesn't hurt. I went further up the forest road. And drove to its end at the top of the mountain. Then walk along the path - until the end of the path. Also developments, large, but not so global.

   Somewhere fresh digs are visible. There are no signs in the dumps, although in some places there are small crystals of crystal on the walls. And some more green stuff. Maybe listvinit? I was told that the mountain was built by them. There is no desire to climb into these holes, substituting your head under the stones and not knowing where to dig. I wandered around, took a picture, was filled with respect for the work of the Urals and, satisfied, went on. Went out of the forest.

   Further, according to the plan, Praskovye-Evgenevskaya mine. Basically, there is nothing special. I just know the material from there, I wanted to see the place with my eyes. But the road paved by the navigator in Moscow turned out to be a forest road, and, at least at the beginning, quite broken. And drive it for thirty kilometers. What will happen to the road in the middle of the forest? Maybe I'll go, maybe I won't. And if you make a decent detour along a good road (bulk is already good), then there is no point in returning to Praskovye-Evgenievskaya mine. In short, I did not go there at all.

   How long, how short - I finally got to the nepheline vein, where once there was solar nepheline.

Нефелиновая жила Урал

Меня предупреждали, что жила засыпана. Но одновременно были свежие сведения, что и после этого находили солнечный нефелин в отвалах. Если я проезжаю мимо, как не заехать? Заехал. Побродил по жаре. Два раза в одну сторону, два раза в другую. Нашел один коричневый камень, сильно поблескивающий на солнце золотинками. А без солнца – дрянь дрянью. Зато нашел два камня серого цвета со спайностью с очень сильным лунным эффектом. Может полевой шпат… Тоже надо разбираться.

Next is the Mica quarry. With my semi-loaded off-line map, not only are the roads to the mine, but the mine itself is not really visible. I rode along the lake, in the village, back and forth. I found a sign "observation deck mica mine". There is a camp site, and ecological trails are equipped. Everything is grown-up: with signs, stands and places to rest. I left the car and trudged uphill according to the stand to look for an observation deck. I did not meet a single tourist or administration. But I met the old workings. This, it turns out, was an observation deck on them, and not on the mica mine itself. I went down to the old workings, since this is also a tourist route, and stairs are laid to them. One of the workings is a large cave. Some kind of white rock is in the depths. Went there to find out what kind of breed. I lean on a stone - my hand slips: the stone is covered with ice, from drops from above. The white rock turned out to be ice crystals...

Слюдорудник Урал

In another working, a deep adit, twenty centimeters of water - do not go to the car for the swamps ... I surveyed the workings and returned to the car. Then the locals suggested where the quarries were - on the other side of the lake. I arrived. On the one hand - a lake, on the other - a mountain, in the middle - a barrier and security. “Can I dig in the dumps?” - "Talk to your superiors." What's the point of wasting time? Otherwise, we don’t know what the authorities will say to an uninvited guest ...

Further Irtyashskoye field. Corundum, chloritoid, margarite, etc. Came, dug in the heat ...

Прииртяшское месторождение

I did not come across corundum crystals, only corundum emery. But I got the chloritoid. No luck with this mineral with the name. It is close to staurolite, and is named for its external resemblance to chlorite, which is alien to it.

Хлоритоид

Damn, how hot! What's next according to the plan at the next point? I watch, I read. "Dig to the depth of the bayonet." What?! Do you need to dig there too? I can only lie down in such weather. No, I won't go. As a result, I got to another point - Vishnevogorsk, a feldspar quarry, dumps. Climbed one of them. Found something white. Veinlets in the rock and pimply streaks on cavities. Reminds me of chalcedony, but white. But chalcedony has not been described at the deposit. It turned out - such a natrolite, spherulites. I have not yet mined such a natrolite.

I also got a piece of something pinkish with cleavage with white and something glowing in the UV. I took it with me. It's good that you don't have to carry it in your backpack. The piece turned out to be feldspar with natrolite and sodalite glowing in the UV.

Nearby was another dump, where interesting samples were promised. But he was too lazy - did not climb. Left. Yes, he was wrong. It was necessary to spend the night and wander there with new forces in the morning. I spent the night on the way to the hematite hill, refusing to visit a couple more points planned along the route. I arrived at the hematite hill in the morning, when it was still not so hot. Yes, and I climbed north of 700 kilometers. During the day, only 28 degrees in the shade. And there is still the edge of the forest, and in the mine itself it is generally cool. The beauty! There are several small mines and a pit in the forest. In one of the mines there is a clear talc vein four centimeters thick. But the color is not great. Did not touch.

I didn’t even climb into the pit: there was no one to leave at the top to guard the stairs from evil people. I climbed into the largest hole at the edge of the forest, dug, as they say, with an excavator.

Гематитовая горка тальк Урал

In the side of the pit there are outcrops of noble talc. I begin to clean one, and he, talc, is all exposed and exposed, and there is no end to it. It turned out - a large formation of talc 25 centimeters long and 10 centimeters thick. I begin to outline it, exposing it from the rock so that it would not break into small pieces. I did not notice how much time it took, but a lot. Finally, an array of talc already strongly hangs over the side wall.

Гематитовая горка тальк Урал

I make several notches with a chisel in the butt - and the talc is separated from the wall. In this case, the relatively thin ends of the piece still fall off. But besides them, a large middle part weighing 2.2 kg remains unscathed. Moreover, the sides of the junction with the host rock remained unharmed - the crystallinity of talc is clearly visible. Good sample! By the way, my friends, who previously mined talc at this deposit, said that they had never met such a large sample. Let's not say that there were none, but ... Later, at home, having washed this and other smaller samples, I realized that before that it was real and I had not seen mineralogical samples of noble talc. What I held in my hands before, in fact, were only fragments: without any crystallinity, adjoining rocks, etc., which shows the mineralogical nature of the formation. It turns out noble talc is not only a pleasant turquoise color, but also, as it should be for a mineral, crystalline forms and formations. At the time of publication of the report, this large sample of talc has already found its new owner.

Along the way, I came across one crystal of hematite, which is also found in this manifestation.

Гематит гематитовая горка Урал

You could dig more. But I want to visit relatives whom I have not seen for 12 years - since my last visit to the Middle Urals. The longer I dig, the less I will visit them.

I am entering Yekaterinburg, which has changed a lot in the twelve years since my last visit. I stay with relatives. And in the morning - back behind the wheel. I'm going back through Kostroma and Yaroslavl - only forests and swamps. It is difficult to even leave the track for the night. But I found a place - between the quacking of a duck in a swamp and the singing of a nightingale in a forest belt. Temperature 10 degrees. An SMS from the Ministry of Emergency Situations arrived - frost at night. No problem! I already know how to spend the night in this weather. Slept great. I got out at 4 in the morning from a tent covered with frost. Wow drops from +35 to -2. At 14-30 - already at home, in Moscow. The trip turned out to be strange: I traveled more than I dug - it’s more like a real rally than an expedition behind a stone.

PS: Today I was sorting out stocks and found a crystal of breinerite, a rare variety of ferruginous magnesite, on the talc brought from Hematite Hill.

Магнезит кристалл гематитовая горка