Treasure Hunt

Visit to the city of Berezovskiy, the homeland of Russian gold is a real adventure for the whole family! You’ll go down the Berezovskiy mine to the depth of 512 meters under the ground, where real gold extraction works are taking place. Legends and exciting history of gold fever are waiting for you in the museum, where you can see the old digging tools and take a ride on a trail car. And you’ll have tons of fun on the shore of Staropyshmisk pond – here you can master the miner’s skills and try to wash the gold dust.

During 2nd day of our tour we will travel to Rezh city, which is situated in the central part of Ural Gemstone Band. We’ll see the ancient mines of natural mineral of amazing beauty, as well as Shaytan deposit of agate – unique semi-precious stone with a complicated pattern, which reminds of a solidified rainbow.

On the sides of Lipovskiy quarries, one of which is considered to be the deepest water entity in Sverdlovsk region, we’ll look for tourmalines, beryls and lots of other rare gemstones. An experienced guide will show how to mine and wash minerals, it’s so much fun! After the day full of new impression we’ll spend the night in a cozy geologist’s cabin, who is always happy to have guests and prepares a traditional Russian bathhouse for them.

120 km away from Ekaterinburg on the Eastern slope of Ural mountains there is the Murzinka village. There’s hardly other place in the world, where so many precious gemstones are concentrated. We’ll walk through the deposits and visit the famous Mineralogical Museum of Academician A.E. Fersman. It was opened in 1958 by local community. Here you’ll find unique objects, mined on the Gemstone Band, they were miners’ gift to the museum.

Now we’ll become treasure-hunters and visit the Malysheva village, the only emerald deposit in Russia. We’ll visit Mariinsky emerald deposit - the largest in the Emerald belt of the Urals and one of the three largest in the world. In 1993 the famous emerald, named after the first President Boris Yeltsin, "President" was found here. It weighs 1772 g. and has an intense green color of high quality category. Near Malysheva there are refuse heaps of emerald-quarrying factory, the so-called "Field of Dreams." During the Soviet times the spent ore was taken here. With patience, you’ll find here a small but pure beryl crystal, chrysoberyl and phenacite. At the end of the day we’ll have dinner and relax at the entertainment center "Orion".

We’ll go down to the water and make the river trip to wonderful places in Kamensk-Uralsk. We’ll travel on a comfortable boat across Iset canyon where you’ll enjoy the stunning scenery and exceptional natural landmarks: rock "Stone gate", "Mammoth", "Owl", "Seven Brothers," "Three Caves", "Dinosaur" and "Rastrus" (this is where archaeologists discovered ancient man’s campsite). In Kamensk-Uralsk we’ll get to know one of the main attractions of the city - the first Russian specialized plant for bell casting.

The final part of our journey will take place in Ekaterinburg. You’ll enjoy an interesting walk through the stone treasuries of the city. In just a few hours you will see the most valuable things that nature gave the Urals in decades. The Ural Geological Museum now features more than 600 minerals, which represent the world standards and are of great scientific and educational interest. In order to appreciate one of the best collections in the world of amethyst, topaz and emerald we’ll visit the Mineralogical Museum, which is founded by the private collector V.A. Pelepenko. Apart from the stones, you’ll admire the arts & crafts from carved stone and bone.