Limni Mine

[Dominic]

Limni Mine is an abandoned Copper and Sulphur Mine, which at some point in the future may become a golf course. With that in mind we thought we better take a look around before the golf balls start flying...

Read the article and chat about it below...
 

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[Lofos-5]

Excellent blog - wish I could have joined as well

The minerals you found are gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) - you can tell from the prismatic shape (monoclinic) of the crystals and the hard- (or rather soft) ness. Lots of details on Wiki.

The "blob" is a stunning example of pillow lava - the uppermost part of the ophiolite sequence for which Cyprus (and Oman more recently) is so famous for. Pillow lava is formed at mid-ocean ridges when hot lava hits the sea water (in very deep water) and is immediately chilled down into the shape of one pillow on top of the other. The pillow lavas are fed by so called sheeted dykes - again one next to the other continuously feeding lava up from the mantle through the oceanic crust to the sea floor. This process happens today in the mid-Atlantic, amonst many other places, and leads to the Americas and Africa/Europe being separated by about 2cm more every year (some is compensated by subduction etc. Again Wiki has more details and also photos.

At mid-ocean ridges you can find so-called black smokers - hydrothermal pipes where heavy minerals are highly concentrated. This is possibly what they were after in Limni too. I visited gold mines in a similar setting in Oman and the colours were equally stunning (see pics below). Never found a nugget though (which are formed completely different so no surprise...).


Nice blue mineralisation (probably Cu and Co)

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Some cores - cut into 3 ft slabs

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My former university colleagues supporting the (Japanese) mining company

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My son on a black smoker

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The mining company drilled/cored shallow boreholes to investigate the black smokers using this small rig

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Thank you for sharing - that is a definitive visit next time I am over!

A.

[Dominic]

Thanks for the photos and explanations. What are "cores"?

[Lofos-5]

Coring is a special way of drilling rocks. With a normal drill bit you destroy the rocks into small cuttings that are then circulated up to surface with dense viscous drilling fluid. These cuttings are sometimes very small - depending on what kind of bit one is using or if the rocks are soft or unconsolidated - this makes it very difficult for the geologists to describe the geology that has been drilled.

When one is using a core drilling bit, also called a core head, then one is not destroying the rocks but cutting a long cylindrical piece of rock as in the second photo above. If you are lucky the rock stays intact and the geologist can describe the fabric and texture of the rock as it is (and can take it to the lab to do all sorts of measurements). The core head cuts the rock and leaves an inner part in a cylindrical shape (normally 4" diameter). See photos of 2 different core heads, the core head on the drilling assembly before lowering into the well bore and a normal tri-cone bit (that destroys the drilled rocks into cuttings) below.

Coring is very slow and costs a lot of money compared to regular drilling - so it does only happen in exploration or appraisal wells.

Core head 1

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Core head 2

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Bottom hole assembly w. core head

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Tricone bit

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Used core head with three different sizes of cores (cut into <1 ft pieces) - 2 7/8", 4" and 5 1/4" diameters (4" is most common).

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A.

[Dominic]

Thanks. That makes sense.

[Dominic]

This is an interesting read:

https://www.chesterfieldresourcesplc.com/#troodos-west

Doesn't really fit in with the notion of a golf course.

[Lofos-5]

Doesn't really fit in with the notion of a golf course.

Yes that’s true. But it could be a lot more lucrative for some if it works out. Having said that it’s hard to find commercially viable mines outside places where cheap labour is available if you know what I mean...

[Ams]

Thanks the blog Dominic, I have added it to my list, though I'm not sure if I'll wait till there is some water in the "lake", though when it's dry enough to safe to drive.

Have you been to Mitsero red lake? If you like the colourful copper coloured stones then you'll have to go if you haven't yet. It's a trek from Paphos but I combined it with Xyliatos dam and nearby medieval bridge to make a good day out.

[Dominic]

Not been to Mitsero. I've been to one closer to Larnaca though, and also paid a couple of visits to one in Paphos Forest, above Roudia Bridge on the maps. I will be blogging about that soon, as it was fascinating.

[cyprusmax47]

Have you been to Mitsero red lake? If you like the colourful copper coloured stones then you'll have to go if you haven't yet. It's a trek from Paphos but I combined it with Xyliatos dam and nearby medieval bridge to make a good day out.

I found it more exiting when already at Xyliatos dam to visit the Memo mine nearby. I was there at least 20 times in the last 30 years or so to collect pyrite crystals...but it is a long drive of 3 hours one way. Some pics from my previous posts...
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=885&p=9130&hilit=py ... tals#p9130

Max

[cyprusmax47]

I think this is where the proposed golf project currently stands

http://www.news.cyprus-property-buyers. ... d=00152295


And this may be of interest

https://cyprus-mail.com/2017/09/15/poli ... entalists/

The picture is of Andreas who cares for the nests in the area.

Obviously Shacolas found a way to get permission to continue this half finished project. In my opinion better than how the area is left at this moment.

Article today in the Press (Cyprus Mail)...
https://cyprus-mail.com/2018/08/08/shac ... i-complex/

Max

[Yioula]

I didn’t think golf courses were a profitable proposition in Cyprus and that the Banks has taken them over in reductions of NPLs