Paphos Life

We've long been fans of hunting for exotic crystals in the countryside of Cyprus. Half the fun of it is finding an interesting geological location. But it can also be a lot of hard work. So we thought we would show you it is possible to find some nice crystals with nothing more than a little hammer. They won't win any awards, but they are easy to find, and make a change from looking for shells on the beach...

Read the article and chat about it below...
 

Thanks Dominic.

FYI:
- Most of the white /colourless minerals lining geodes in this area will be quartz (often drusy quartz).
- Small but distinct lumps of chalcopyrite (a copper ore) can be found, but you have to get your eye in! These lumps are usually a mush of many crystals, but they still show the characteristic brass-like appearance. ...Which is also a bit like gold, so it can get your pulse racing for a moment.
- Less-obviously crystalline, but malachite (a green copper mineral) can also be found in the area.

MikeH wrote: ↑Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:48 am

FYI:
- Most of the white /colourless minerals lining geodes in this area will be quartz (often drusy quartz).
- Small but distinct lumps of chalcopyrite (a copper ore) can be found, but you have to get your eye in! These lumps are usually a mush of many crystals, but they still show the characteristic brass-like appearance. ...Which is also a bit like gold, so it can get your pulse racing for a moment.
- Less-obviously crystalline, but malachite (a green copper mineral) can also be found in the area.

Just some examples I collected in the Limni area concerning the above explanation...





both were amazing light-weight (perhaps gypsum!)

to the contrary this was very heavy


Max

Nice Max.
Looks like pyrite in the last one (striated ~cubes)