Kemmlitz' kaolin plants

and other sources in Northern Saxony

The company of Kemmlitzer Kaolinwerke has many pits in this area - Querbitzsch, Schleben/Crellenhain, Kemmlitz, Gröppendorf and more. But only in the first and the higlighted ones weathered thundereggs have been found. Thundereggs in kaolin survived in an almost completely weathered down environment: the host rock (maybe perlite) is kaolinized to a fine clay; the shells lost a lot of silica and get very brittle. The largest eggs were about 25 cm but mudballs, the usual size of good quality eggs is around 50 mm. Nowadays rock hunting ist only possible in Querbitzsch, Gröppendorf has been flooded with kaolin.

Sources:

Gröppendorf
Kemmlitz
Neusornzig
Querbitzsch "Glückauf"

Gröppendorf

The kaolin plant Gröppendorf brought up some nice filled agates in a matrix typically kaolinized and creamy-white. The colors are usually black and white, but there's often some blue and rarely yellowish hints in them.

quartz: 57x57 mm

white: 36x33 mm

moss-dots: 36x36 mm

stretch: 42x22 mm

triconid: 25x23 mm

creamy, blue water-lines: 34x36 mm

black water lines: 35x33 mm

blue, smokey quartz:

Kemmlitz

Another location or kaolin plant in the area is the one named Kemmlitz. The eggs from there are really really rare, mostly cause of the very weathered matrix.

This one contains quartz mainly with a nice black rim.

Querbitzsch "Glückauf"

The so far better known or longer known kaolin plant is the "Glückauf" near Querbitzsch. The eggs usually don't have that much agate in them. Most are filled with crystals (quartz, smokey quartz, amethyst, calcite, baryte, ...). But the shell is usually better cause harder. Many eggs show nice free standing pseudomorphosis.