~

Pribaikal

~

Pribaikal is the area just west of Lake Baikal. The largest city in this area is Irkutsk.


Bezymyannaya river

Located close to Slyudyanka it is a source of iridiscent gemmy albite

mineralogy
Albite


Ioko Dovrensky massif

The diopside here is the purple violane. 

mineralogy
Diopside Foshagite


Korshunovskoye

geology
Korshunovskoye is a skarn deposit close to Zhelenogorsk (About 250km east of Bratsk). Korshunovskoye is part of the Angara-Ilim iron ore region. The deposit sits in sediments of Upper Cambrian and Ordovician age. These sedimentary rocks are cut by explosion pipes consisting of gabbrodolerites, dolerites and dolerite porphyrites. These pipes altered the sediments at the contact zone, especially where the sediment consisted of limestone or marble, resulting in an ore bearing skarn. 

mineralogy
Actinolite Aragonite Calcite Clinochlore Dashkovaite Diopside Dypingite Ekaterinite Epidote Giorgiosite Halite Hematite Hydromagnesite Iowaite Korshunovskite Kurgantaite Magnetite Montmorillonite Nepskoite Orthoclase Phlogopite Quartz Shabynite Szaibelyite Talc Thaumasite


Korshunovskite
magnetite-korsh-1.jpg (25758 bytes)
   Magnetite
Shabynite.jpg (25474 bytes)
Shabynite

 

Ore Deposits of the USSR, V.I. Smirnov, 1977, Vol I, pp 71-72.


Malobystrynskoye

Malobystrynskoye is a marble quarry south of Irkutsk and about 30km west of Slud'yanka. The quarry is mostly famous for it's lazurite, but the systematic collectors will also know it as type locality for Tounkite and Bystrite.

mineralogy
Afghanite Bystrite Calcite Diopside Fluoroapatite Hauyne Lazurite Phlogopite Sodalite Sulphur Tounkite Vesuvianite

afghanite.jpg (38313 bytes) bystrite.jpg (30681 bytes) lazurite.jpg (29368 bytes) tounkite.jpg (32377 bytes)
Afghanite                Bystrite              Lazurite             Tounkite


Slyudyanka

slyudyanka.jpg (23999 bytes)

geology
Slyudyanka is a town on the southcoast of lake Baikal. Today it is well known for it's white marble, but as the name already reveals it was known for mica before. From the late 17th century until the mid 20th century phologopite was mined here. Geologically Slyudyanka consists of precambrean metamorphic rocks, later metasomatically altered by granite intrusions. In each of the stages interesting mineralogy was formed. Marble with spinel and Lavrovite, metasomatites with skarn like minerals such as skapolite and phlogopite and pegmatites with chromphyllite

1 Kop
2 Kop
3 Kop
Burovshchina quarry
Jakunina mine
Kartagaiskaya mine
Komarskoye quarry
Pereval quarry
Phlogopite mine
Pilipenko mine
Vernadskogo mine
Zilberminca mine

Some sources even include the lazurite localities of Malobystrynskoye and Tultui river also to Slyudyanka. On the mineral market most specimen from these different localities are just labeled 'Slyudyanka'. A little more research is needed.....

mineralogy
Chromdravite Chromite Chromphyllite Diopside Eskolaite Florensovite Fluoroapatite Hauyne Hyalophane Kalininite Karelianite Magnesiocoulsonite Mejonite Natalyite Phlogopite Sodalite Spinel Titanite

The following minerals are specifically mentioned with the Pereval quarry:
Barite Calcite Chalcopyrite Diopside Eskolaite Florensovite Franklinite Goldmanite Ilmenite Kalininite Karelianite Magnesiochromite Magnesiocoulsonite Natalyite Pyrite Quartz Tremolite Uwarowite Vanadiumdravite Zincochromite

  Calcite-slyu.jpg (21459 bytes)
Calcite
chromphyllite-kaber.jpg (23684 bytes)
Chromphyllite
baikalite.jpg (35553 bytes)
Diopside (Baikalite)
diopside-slyud.jpg (43930 bytes)
Diopside (Lavrovite)
fluorapatite-sludyanka.jpg (42326 bytes)
Fluorapatite
phlogopite-sludyanka.jpg (520033 bytes)
Phlogopite
spinel-sludyanka.jpg (13041 bytes)
Spinel

  marble-slud.jpg (31384 bytes)
    Marble


Tazheran massif

geology
The Tazheran massif is located at the western shore of Lake Baikal about half way up the lake. It is an alkaline intrusion with magnesium skarns.

mineralogy
Azoproite Baddeleyite Calcite Calzirtite Clinohumite Djerfisherite Dolomite Forsterite Galenobismuthite Geikielite Hercynite Kirschsteinite Ludwigite Magnetite Melilite Merwinite Microcline Oligoclase Perowskite Pyrrhotite Rutile Spinel Tazheranite Zircon

amazonite-tazheran.jpg (563814 bytes)
Amazonite              
azoproite.jpg (26171 bytes)
Azoproite          
magnetite-tazh.jpg (23913 bytes)
Magnetite
tazheranite.jpg (16001 bytes)
Tazheranite

  


Tultui

Tultui is a mineral deposit at the watershed between the Tultui river and the Malaya Bystraya river, just west of Sludyanka. It is the second locality for Tounkite after Malobystrynskoye.


Tulunsky coal mine

mineralogy
Pyrite