The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. And one man who has faced numerous trials and emerged perfected is K.C. Pandey, Managing Director, Superb Minerals Pvt. Limited. There are very few people would use the phrase "feminine beauty" to describe a rock shaped by volcanic forces but Pandey, the founder of Gargoti, the museum of minerals in Nashik, is one such person who uses the term repeatedly while speaking about the 65-million-year-old zeolites that dominate his life.

In fact, the phrase is part of the jargon that zeolite lovers worldwide use to describe these rare finds. If one is looking for Indian zeolites / zeolite India / zeolite minerals exporter / Indian mineral / minerals for sale / mineral museums / mineral museum, Superb Minerals and Gargoti Museums India, is the right place to go. At present, Superb Minerals India - is leading supplier exporter of Indian Zeolites, prestigious minerals and geological specimens. It is the leading dealer of Indian minerals and presently exports about 80% of the specimens sold on the world. And with all credit to Pandey's initiation and drive, India can boast of one of the world's best museums for zeolities. Pandey's passion for minerals began at a young age 16 when he picked up mineral collection as a hobby.

In 1978 he joined Aviation Wing of the Indian Navy and retired as a Chief Air Artificer. He groomed his hobby and studied about the Indian minerals especially of Deccan plateau. After his early retirement in 1993 December, he saw great potential in the market and established 1st Pvt. Ltd. Company of India which has specialized in Zeolite minerals of Deccan Plateau. That speaks volumes about a man who turned his hobby into an unusual and successful turn in his career. In fact he had began hunting for zeolites around Mumbai while also pursuing his career as an Aviation Officer in the Indian Navy.

In 1994, he participated in the Gems, Mineral and Fossil show in Tucson, Arizona, the world's largest fair of its kind. With his diverse collection, Pandey made an impact at the show. The visit was a turning point for Pandey, who opted for early retirement from the Navy and concentrated on trading his collection in the international market.A year later, Pandey initiated plans to set up a museum exclusively meant for zeolites. He chose to build it in Nashik partially because of the location. Nashik forms part of the Deccan Trap, one of the world's largest volcanic provinces and hence a perfect hunting ground for zeolites that are an outcome of ancient volcanic activity. He vividly recalls the days when he frequented stone quarries, road building sites and blasting sites, slowly imbibing the knowledge that he is now known for. Zeolites are usually about 60 to 65 million years old. Their capillaries have high water content and immediate changes occur when they are exposed to the air. Despite being forged by extreme heat, zeolites are very delicate and need to be nurtured since excessive heat or cold causes rapid decay. The Gargoti museum takes care of the `needs' of the zeolites. Humidity levels are controlled to maintain the `health' of Pandey's nearly three decades old collection.

In Marathi, the word Gargoti means common stone or pebble. Pandey chose this name for the museum since it is actually a subtle way of saying that every pebble has the potential of great beauty - a reference to the fact that many zeolites are found only when rocks are split open. Pandey's claim that Gargoti is one of the best zeolite museums in the world is backed by independent opinion. The World Wide Web has numerous articles about the not-for-profit museum and Pandey's dedication to it. Pandey achieved his teenage dream of a space dedicated to the display of the zeolites in 2001, at the age of 41. The most prized piece in Gargoti is a rock of apophyllite, stilbite and calcite measuring 2.2 x 2 feet and worth about $100,000. The entire collection is valued at about Rs.20 crores. Pandey feels that Zeolites per se have little value since they are soft and lack durability.

Their value lies in their delicacy and the rarity of a find. Since there is no mining for zeolites, most are found when a site is blasted or the ground is dug in the course of an archaeological excavation. According to him, nearly 90 per cent of zeolites are lost because of such random mining. Pandey wants this random mining of zeolites to change. He believes that the government should have an indigenous policy for careful mining of zeolites since they are a national treasure and he strongly feels that it would be possible to eradicate the national debt if one can carefully mine this treasure. The claim is not as far fetched as it sounds when Pandey mentions the price zeolites bring in the international market. A 9.7 kg aquamarine that he recently sold to a private museum fetched him 250,000 euros. Mined in Karur, Tamil Nadu, the aquamarine was purchased by Pandey at some risk to his life. Apart from being popular among mineral collectors, zeolites can be at the centre of a lucrative commercial activity as is proved by the annual turnover of Rs.6 crores of Superb Minerals India Private Limited. Owing to their unique porous properties, zeolites are used in a variety of applications with a global market of several million tonnes a year. The most well-known use is in water softening techniques. They can perform ion exchange, filtering, odour removal and gas absorption tasks.

A man like Pandey, who is hardworking, a visionary and above all, passionate about Zeolites are the truly the ones who can change the value of this mineral that has a lot to offer but are overlooked. Pandey indeed is the gem like the ones he mines!