THE CORUNDUMINIUM

NEPAL

CHUMAR MINE

The Chumar Mine in the Ganesh Himal region of Nepal, developed by F. John Barlow, Allan Bassett, and Charles Key, produced only a few ruby specimens; but what specimens they were! Here are five from their original operations.


Note phlogopite and fuchsite	Chain of ruby on calcite	Unique shark fin habit	Bird nest	Best crystal

The first two images below are of John's "favorite" specimen, which he sold to a friend.Today, there is a trickle of specimens from the mine. The last two, recently discovered, have been etched from calcite using nuriatic acid.


John's favorite	Detail	Thumbnail (Recent find)	Etched from calcite

TAPLEJUNG

Recently, this region of northeastern Nepal has been yielding euhedral pale to medium blue sapphires.