When the Pune blogger Ranjit Ghatge visited the Natural History Museum in London, he was surprised to find a magnificent turquoise-colored crystalline rock in the glass display case at the entrance. There was a plaque on it that read "From the Wagholi Quarry in Pune. Beautiful Carving Stone ", India'. "This stone caught my attention. Although I was born and raised in Pune, I didn't know that a rare stone was found in this city," said Ghatge, whose blog is called Pune Memories.
Pune is considered to be the only place in the world where a large number of Cavansites are found. Other quarries in the United States, Brazil, and New Zealand produce only small amounts of this mineral. In Pune, it is located in Wagholi on the Pune-Ahmednagar Road, about 25 kilometers east of the city. "If you go to any museum in the world, where there is Cavansite, then it must come from Pune. It is a very precious mineral because it is very rare," the city’s mineral collector Mohamed Fasihuddin Ma Said Muhammad Fasihuddin Makki. Makki has collected collections from all over the world. There are many colorful crystal minerals in the showcase, but one of the dark blue works tells the story of Pune, which has a history of millions of years.
Cavansite is a mineral that is formed in igneous rocks when lava, water, steam, and various chemicals circulate. "The mineral-rich fluid fills the cavity, and within a period of time, due to the action of hydrothermal fluid, the minerals crystallize," Makki said. Metal vanadium is carried from the mantle to the surface by lava flows in the Deccan trap. In Pune, it crystallizes with silica and calcium to form Cavansite.
This mineral was discovered in Pune in 1988. First, a miner worked in a quarry in Wagholi and saw radiant blue mineral fragments in the stone. He contacted geologist Arvind Bhale, who likes to travel across India to collect minerals.
"In the 1970s and 1980s, people did not know that minerals were used in universities, museums and collections. Arvind was surprised when he saw this new mineral. A geologist from Australia mentioned This mineral was discovered in Utah, USA. Arvind used his chisel and hammer to collect some samples and sent these samples to Germany. At that time, India did not have enough facilities to study the refractive index and other details of the mineral, so the mineral was I'm sure," said Jyoti Bhale, the wife of the late geologist.
The owner of the quarry turned out to be Bhale's school friend. He asked him to mine minerals, which was not an easy task. "Between 1989 and 1995, many people in the world geological community were shocked by the discovery of a large number of kavanites in Valgy. Many researchers and collectors visited Valkyrie. Arvind has published many papers and is known as the Cavansite people in the mineral industry. ," Jyoti said.
At Savitribai Phule Pune University, the Department of Geology has made Cavansite specimens the core of its collection. In a lecture to students, Raymond Duraiswami, associate professor of geology, introduced it as a mineral with "great potential in materials science and future applications and industrial uses". "Cavansite belongs to a mineral called zeolite. This mineral has a large cavity in its molecular structure. Because Cavansite contains metal (vanadium), it can freely exchange cations or electrons with other substances. For example, if you take the car exhaust With metal (vanadium)-based zeolites, any lead, cadmium, arsenic or toxic gases in the exhaust gas will be trapped. Therefore, minerals can be used as microfilters and catalytic converters," said Duraiswami.
The quarries in and around Pune, Maharashtra are rich in various minerals, such as green fisheye and feldspar. “At the beginning of the last century, the Mumbai-Pune railway line was under construction. When the workers encountered the Ghat Road section, they had to dig a tunnel in the Kandara Ghat. In one of the tunnels, they found a hole in which it was installed. It was full of sparkling minerals, such as diamonds. Everyone was excited because they thought they had found a lot of diamonds. The news spread and people started to flock to this tunnel. They didn't know that these were white fisheye stones. The railway had to block the area to prevent people from obstructing their work, but before the blockade they removed the minerals, most of which were shipped to the UK,” said Makki. His father started collecting minerals after moving to the UK in the 1940s. A hobby. Karnataka to Maharashtra.
Today, he displayed Makki's mineral and fossil collections for free in schools, universities and other institutions across India to popularize earth sciences and enable students and others to experience the miracles of nature. "Unlike other exhibitions, I allow and encourage students and visitors to come into contact with the minerals on display," he said. Visitors can see green fisheye, needle-like crystals of feldspar, as well as specimens of Cavansite and rare minerals from India and all over the world. "Finding mineral-filled caves made me get goose bumps. Unfortunately, mines near Pune have been closed, such as the Erandwana Quarry, Pashan Hills, Chinchwad and Wagholi, due to strict urban planning regulations, environmental restrictions and rapid Urbanization has forced quarry owners to move to remote areas where land is cheap. The quarry area in Wagholi has been turned into a valuable real estate area and is now swallowed up by construction activities," Makki said.
Duraiswami said that there are not many studies to understand the structure or cause of Cavansite. "Although we can use it for catalytic converters, etc., the characterization of Cavansite is still in progress. Because this mineral has industrial and other applications, many people will not share their research. We at Savitribai Phule Pune University are now working on The central instrument facility set up for this purpose uses the most advanced mineral technology to characterize this spectacular blue mineral," he added. Now that the mine is closed, no new Cavansite specimens have come out, and any commercial materials sold today come from previous stocks.
"It is necessary to understand this mineral. We have national and national animals, birds and plants, but if there are minerals or national minerals from Maharashtra, it should be kavenite. This is a pending A treasure trove of exploration," Duraiswami said.
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