Where is amber mined?

How to catch the sun? This question is fairly easy to answer. The fact is that there is one stone that people associate with the sun and its energy. He is loved and revered, they make various crafts out of him. So a person tries to keep the rays of the luminary next to him. What is this miracle stone? It's easy to guess, we are talking about amber.

This rock usually occurs in the form of inclusions between coal seams. As a rule, the locations of amber are divided into two large groups.

• The first is primary or primary deposits. The stone that is found in coal deposits belongs to them. Also, the primary deposits include such areas as the North Siberian, Far Eastern, Ural. Everything is explained simply: where coniferous forests used to grow, resin flowed abundantly from the trees, and amber appeared.
• Another group is secondary. Such deposits are called placers. They, in turn, are divided into sea and river. These deposits are located at a distant distance from the primary (primary). And all because the stone was brought to the future deposits by water currents or earth talus, or due to the advancement of glaciers.

That is, amber was not born there, but "emigrated" to these places by natural shifts. As a result of the accumulation of the brought natural material, huge deposits were formed.

The most famous place in Russia where the sun stone is mined is Kaliningrad. The Kaliningrad deposits are classified as loose. On the example of secondary sections, one can see their one more division, now into discharges. They are deltaic, coastal, marine, glacial.

Why are amber deposits of very low density? Because resin doesn't sink in water.And amber is the petrified resin. Many centuries ago, resin was transported by water currents over fairly long distances. Where the stream met an obstacle, the resin clung to the sand, mixed with the debris of the trees. Time and natural phenomena created amber.

Today people find pieces of sunshine in various places. They can be found on the river bank, in various shallows, in fragments of vegetation. There they are carried away by the river stream. Also, amber can be found at the foot of the mountains, it was carried there by a glacier.

More pebbles can be brought to the surface by a spring flood or a storm. For example, as in the Kaliningrad region. On the coast of the oceans and seas, the solar mass is carried out by a storm. In the 19th century, it was in the Kaliningrad region that a very large release of gems once occurred. Residents collected stones for several days.

If you start talking about large deposits, then you need to start the story with Russia. The largest accumulation of amber is located on the Baltic coast of the former Sambia Peninsula, now the Kaliningrad Peninsula. To be precise - this is the village of Yantarny (approximately 90% of the world's stone reserves are located in this place). Amber is more than fifty million years old. This is exactly what the experts say.

At this time, with the help of geological studies, specialists have determined that there are new areas for development. Their reserves are approximately three hundred tons.

The field in the Kaliningrad region on the Baltic Sea is divided into three sections: Palmnikensky, Plyazhevy and Primorsky. Development at the Palmnikensky site has been underway since 1976. According to geologists, the Palmnikensky and Primorsky quarries can supply people with amber for another two hundred years.

In the Rivne region, which is located in Ukraine, there are also amber reserves. They are located in a kind of triangle of settlements Klesovo-Sarny-Dubrovitsy. Extraction of Ukrainian nuggets is cheaper due to the fact that they lie at a depth that ranges from 3 to 10 meters. From one cubic meter of an earthen layer, you can get 250 g of sun stone.

The Dominican Republic is also famous for its amber mining. The age of the rock here is 40 million years. There is a deposit in Germany, which is located in Saxony-Anhalt. The age of amber here is about 22 million years.

The Baltic amber center is located in Kaliningrad, followed by Lithuania. The local geological service is trying to announce an open international tender for the extraction of this stone. Various amber souvenirs can also be found in large quantities in Estonia. Nuggets in these places are mined on the island of Saaremaa, and already expensive items are made from them.

The Belarusians believe that the amber deposits in their regions look like ghosts. The deposits of the sun stone are depicted on the maps of geologists and in scientific publications, but not everyone can see them with their own eyes. Pieces of nuggets are found at Paleolithic sites. Their age is approximately thirteen thousand years.

The Belarusian geological survey has identified seven areas with amber deposits. Stones are found in Pinsk, Stolin, Luninetsk, Drogichin districts, in Polesie and in the Brest region. The most outstanding in this regard are considered swamp deposits in the Gatcha massif near Zhabinka. More than three hundred tons of amber are stored there.

New deposits are being discovered in Latvia. Amber is found here both on the shore and at the bottom of the sea. Alluvial deposits are very often discovered at the bottom due to the fact that the water moves huge layers of sand. As a result of this perturbation, the sunstone is pulled out.

By and large, it is easier to name the places where amber is not mined. The fishery originates in the Kaliningrad region, and then it spreads throughout the country. And if the main reserves are located in Kaliningrad, then in the north of Siberia and in the Far East, deposits were discovered that helped these areas enter the Eurasian amber province of the world. As a result, even a brand appeared in Altai. It was invented by the locals for very high quality sunflower oil. It is called “Amber of Altai”.

In addition, amber is found in Russia in the Urals, in the Primorsky Territory and in Yakutia. Large nuggets are not found here, therefore, industrial excavation of sunstone in these places is impractical.

The sunstone mining process is very diverse. For example, development can be carried out using the screw-hydraulic method. This is the safest way for both the environment and the condition of the stone. The work is carried out as follows: with the help of auger-hydraulic equipment, wells are drilled in the ground. Their diameter is 80 cm.

The nuggets rise to the surface together with the soil under hydraulic pressure. Then they are cleaned, washed from sand and earth. This is the most modern way.

And there is also a method that provides for the organization of special quarries. First, barren rocks are pulled out, then layers of blue clay are exposed. It contains amber.

It was different before. In ancient times, amber was collected by hand on the shore, which is located along the Baltic Sea, and the extraction was put in special containers. This method made it possible to extract about sixty thousand tons of sunstone. Time passed, and our ancestors realized that it is much easier to get a stone out of the water if you use a landing net. Amber got into them together with algae.

Some seekers even "plowed" the coastal zones so that the light stone was washed out of the sea soil and floated to the surface. It is not difficult to get a sunstone in nature. It is located at a fairly shallow depth. But the organization of official mining requires high costs, so there are "black" diggers.

Illegal mining consists of using the hose of a huge vacuum cleaner. Standing knee-deep in water, people raise and lower an aluminum pipe connected to a gasoline pump into a pit of dirty water. So they wash out the soil (blue clay), which is more than 50 million years old. Together with this slurry, amber rises to the surface.

Catching amber in such pits is a rather difficult task. However, all the costs and labors pay off with interest. A large stone on the black market costs more than a piece of gold of the same weight. Finding such a specimen is a great success. Therefore, people dig holes without thinking about their health and the damage to the environment.

The Russian authorities have increased the punishment for this activity in 2017. To date, the fine for illegal mining of amber is set in the amount of 200 to 500 thousand rubles. Previously, it was only 3-5 thousand rubles. Officials will pay about 800 thousand rubles for the violation, and the fine for legal entities will be calculated in millions (10-60 million rubles, depending on the scale of illegal activity). Today, the sale of illegally mined amber, its transportation and storage for the purpose of marketing is strictly prohibited.

But there are also people who combine amber mining with passion. Searching for a sunstone while diving does not violate applicable law. How do divers search for amber at the bottom of the sea? They use the physical properties of the stones. Fluorescence is the glow of stones in different colors under the influence of an ultraviolet lamp. Modern devices significantly increase the search efficiency, but you need to remember the following nuances:

• an error will be excluded if you bring a stone to the glass of the lantern itself;
• the lantern will shine brighter if space is limited;
• the degree of fluorescence of amber under water depends on the indicator of the wavelength range (it should be 360-400 nm);
• nuggets are easy to find if you use a flashlight with a wavelength of 365 to 400 nm;
• when working with such equipment, it is recommended to use special glasses or polycarbonate glass;
• the highest possible power of the flashlight will provide a great glow effect.

Searching for amber is not only an interesting geological hobby, but also a good income... "Black" diggers earn on average from 100 to 200 thousand rubles. per month. Divers pin their hopes on luck, but their method is more like a hobby, although it is not devoid of material meaning.

You can find out how amber is mined and found by watching the video below.