Paphos Life

***Continue from "Cyprus is amazing 3_part 1" ***

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Gmelinite Crystals with analcime
Red Gmelinite cluster

Mathiatis Lavas
A view of Mathiatis copper and iron-pyrite mine in Nicosia, where copper and pyite were the main ore minerals extracted from this area. The mine's waste products were dumbed next to it, creating a magnificent man-made mountain! Some of the minerals that can be found here are shown below:


Analcime crystals with balls of Thomsonite
This is one of my favorite rocks! I love the way Thomsonite grows as hemispherical shapes, located randomly on an analcime background. It was a very nice surprise coming out of the rock, couldn't hold my voice much (Thank God I was alone, in the mine).

Analcime crystals on a big rock (very shiny)
A classic example of Mathiatis treasures! Analcime alllll oveeeer the place. Although Mathiatis' analcime isn't that well crystallized as Mitsero' analcime, this is one of the best finds in Mathiatis area.

Thank you George sharing your photos and informative descriptions with us...

Max

Happy in Cyprus wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 4:01 am ph06kg1, I was surprised to see your pic of Thomsonite as it closely resembles a piece I have in my home. For the life of me I can't remember where I got it from; have a feeling it was a store in America which specialised in selling these kind of decorative artefacts. I mounted it on a wooden base and added a descriptive placard. Thought you might like to see:

Beautiful! It must be a kind of Zeolite, i dont know if we have it in Cyprus! But it resembles Thomsonite very much

cyprusmax47 wrote: ↑Sat Nov 03, 2018 7:04 am Thank you George sharing your photos and informative descriptions with us...

Max

Its my pleasure Max! Besides, whats their meaning if they are not shared Regards, George

Interesting read guys. When I moved house in March this year, the previous owner had left a present that I thought was a calcified elephant dropping Turning it around only to discover this fascinating formation of crystal inside

Looking through hundreds of my crystal pics I found this one which looks like Analcime crystals George was showing in his post. Found that large piece of ca 3 kg in the Marathounda hills though. A little bit it forms also like a kind of Thomsonite....



close up, inside little balls of crystals which are not easy to photograph though


Max

mike strand2 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 3:11 pm Interesting read guys. When I moved house in March this year, the previous owner had left a present that I thought was a calcified elephant dropping
Rock 1.jpg

Turning it around only to discover this fascinating formation of crystal inside
Rock 2.JPG

Hi Mike, looks like the previous owner left you a surprise geode filled with challenging (another form of crystalline quartz)! Beautiful!

cyprusmax47 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 4:53 pm Looking through hundreds of my crystal pics I found this one which looks like Analcime crystals George was showing in his post. Found that large piece of ca 3 kg in the Marathounda hills though. A little bit it forms also like a kind of Thomsonite....



close up, inside little balls of crystals which are not easy to photograph though


Max

Exactly Max! The very shiny crystals are analcime crystals, the dull crystals are calcite! I can easily recognise it, you find it almost everywhere! If you have any photos that need to be identified I 'll be glad to help.

Thank you George for your kind offer, but be careful, I have hundreds of pics which I did not post as I don't exactly know which crystals they are...beside the crystals I never photographed

Max

cyprusmax47 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:25 am Thank you George for your kind offer, but be careful, I have hundreds of pics which I did not post as I don't exactly know which crystals they are...beside the crystals I never photographed

Max

hehe that much?? Ι have many rocks too, my wife threatens me to kick me out of home if I bring one more rock into our apartment hehehe!!! The apartment has now became like a cave.

For me it's a pleasure Max! Maybe we can limit the amount by starting from those you have great curiosity on! Whatever you like

The other weekend I am coming with my wife to Drouseia heights in Paphos, maybe I will steal some time for rockhounding!

ph06kg1 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 1:52 am

mike strand2 wrote: ↑Sun Nov 04, 2018 3:11 pm Interesting read guys. When I moved house in March this year, the previous owner had left a present that I thought was a calcified elephant dropping
Rock 1.jpg

Turning it around only to discover this fascinating formation of crystal inside
Rock 2.JPG

Hi Mike, looks like the previous owner left you a surprise geode filled with challenging (another form of crystalline quartz)! Beautiful!

sorry I meant chalcedony! Mobile problems!

Thanks for the response; another crystal formation I've seen was the Desert Rose which is very a beautiful. A friend of mine had a large collection until one of the cleaners decided to wash them because they were dusty; such is life.

Jim

Jim B wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 12:22 pm Thanks for the response; another crystal formation I've seen was the Desert Rose which is very a beautiful. A friend of mine had a large collection until one of the cleaners decided to wash them because they were dusty; such is life.

Jim

Dessert rose is a marvelous piece of crystal.. Too bad we don't have it occurring naturally in Cyprus. Hehe life can be tough sometimes indeed..!!

cyprusmax47 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:25 am Thank you George for your kind offer, but be careful, I have hundreds of pics which I did not post as I don't exactly know which crystals they are...beside the crystals I never photographed

Max

If you want Max, I can share with you an old Google Drive folder that contains my oldest rock collection, to see it, maybe you can recognise some of your pieces there
Regards, George

ph06kg1 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 1:17 pm

cyprusmax47 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 05, 2018 7:25 am Thank you George for your kind offer, but be careful, I have hundreds of pics which I did not post as I don't exactly know which crystals they are...beside the crystals I never photographed

Max

If you want Max, I can share with you an old Google Drive folder that contains my oldest rock collection, to see it, maybe you can recognise some of your pieces there
Regards, George

Will send you a PM with my email address .....

Max