On September 8-11, 2020, a field trip to the Nizhny Novgorod region took place as part of the Moscow youth SGA (Society for Geology Applied to Mineral deposit) division activity. Young employees of IGEM RAS, the Institute of Earth Physics and TsNIGRI visited Arzamas, the gypsum mine and the Museum of mining, geology and speleology in Peshelan village, and the Bornukovskaya cave stone-cutting factory in Bornukovo village.

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The Peshelan museum was established in a operating mine at a depth of 70 m, at a mined-out site. The museum provides its visitors an insight into the gypsum mine, mining basics and snow-white gypsum underground extraction. Bebyaevsky gypsum deposit, a basis for Peshelansky gypsum plant, is famous for its very high-grade gypsum containing up to 97% calcium sulfate. Historically, local mines produced over 12 Mt of gypsum.

Bornukovskaya cave stone-cutting factory is located in Bornukovo village (Buturlinsky district); it is a branch of the Peshelansky gypsum plant. Stone-cutting industry has long flourished in Bornukovo, raw materials were extracted near the village including in the Bornukovskaya cave known for colored anhydrite with various drawings. The factory artists shared their knowledge and experience, a workshop on stone cutting was held for the trip participants, so that everyone could try to produce a souvenir from anhydrite on their own.

The SGA youth division plans to continue holding such events and is always happy to welcome new participants. If you are interested in joining the SGA, please contact A.V. Antonets, Chairman of TsNIGRI CYSS.

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