FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[Joan R.]

We have been in the Munchen Mineral Show once again. As always you never know where you could start the Mineral Tour, but you have your favourite stands to visit... and say hello to your friends, probably Munchen to Munchen friends.

We found a very nice apophyllite crystals from Bidkin Village, in Maharashtra (India) (Mineralien Welt 4/2007). Nice light green xls on matrix with colourless stilbite specimens. The history is very interesting. In 1970 the Indian farmers from Bidkin drill water well. They were using the well many years till it became dry. In 2006 they wanted to penetrate more meters to get new phreatic clear water veins. Suddenly they broken the bottom of the shaft where appeared an unexpected cavity. When they get into the cavity they found a cave fully covered of nice green crystals. These apophyllites where sold to the “runners” (commercial/trading agents) from the area. In march 2007 Makki family was advertised about this founding and they start to work professionally this cavity. They worked during 4 months collecting specimens with 45ºC (113ºF) and 100% humidity...really hard!!!
On the floor of the cavity they found crystals covered with a layer of small secondary quartz xls, without brightness, but over the walls and roof apophyllite is more clean, green and brighter.

Close to the apophyllite sellers I enjoyed very nice apatites (fluoro, hidroxo...?) from Sapo Mine, Minas Gerais. The seller Luiz told us that the mine has produced some cavities with excellent specimens but they don’t know if in next meters works they are going to find something more. The presence of good turmaline it is a good indicator that the area will be good... Apatite is deep green colour and has interesting “phantoms”. Also from Sapuccaia Mine (Minas Gerais) excellent canary yellow muscovite.

I enjoyed the green octahedrical fluorites from Riemvasmaak, South Africa. Till four cm edge grass gemmy green xls. Small specimens remember me the Mina Berta (Barcelona, Catalonia) classical green specimens.

Hexagonal prisms, to 20 mm, of brown-orange bastnaesite from Zagi Mountains (Pakistan) on gneiss. Really excellent specimens, also in the Mineralientage Main Exposition dedicated to these area minerals.

From Philadelphia collection (see forum) some good specimens of english liroconite and really nice specimens from Lengenbach quarry (Binntal, Switzerland) sulphosalt specimens. David and myself fell in love of a 7-8mm binnite, but price was over 1000EUR!!! Finally I get a 6mm jordanite for a lower price (I can’t reproduce price because my wife could read this text ;-).

I want to send a message to my Catalan mineralogists to see the excellent yellow-grey fluorite small pyrite xls covered from Sant Marçal Mine, Barcelona, Catalonia in Jordi Fabre’s stand: simply irresistible!!!

As always, we meet in Munchen for a goood dinner with all friends from around. This year was a pleasure to meet with Jeff Scovil.

[ploum]

Hello,
i don't speak very well english, sorry. I have done 400 pictures of munich show and a report in french. But text is not very important, the quality of this show is very impressive ! Quality of picture are very intesressant for personns who couldn't be to munich.
You can find here but it's not completely finished you can find this adresse on feench forum.

regards
fred

[Jordi Fabre]

Ploum,

Where is the address of the French forum mentioned for you?

Jordi

[ploum]

Hello Jordi,
my website is "alpinisme et minéraux"

or you can find this adress on geoforum in munich2007

regards fred

i finished my munich show today but the most is finished

[ploum]

this year i'll come back in Munich.... I post some picture of the last years....

all is on my website with 350 photographs:
https://www.alpinismeetmineraux.fr/mineralogie/bourses/bourses.htm
(link normalized by Jordi)

I try to make better photographs in 2008.

[ploum]

others photo