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EUROPE
Italian Mineralogical Localities
In this page we want describe the main italian localities for research
of minerals; for each locality we describe in which region of Italy it
is, the main minerals that you can find and some other information . Moreover
we are introducing some information from the turistic point of view and
some links you can see, with a brief description of them. Anyway if you
are interested in coming to Italy and visiting some localities, don't
exitate to contact us: we can arrange a trip togheter or indicate you
some interesting site to visit or where to find good food,wine and hotels.
In the map of Italy under the table you can also visualize the position
of each locality. An interesting site in which you can find information
about art and museums ( comprising mineralogical museums ) is www.emmeti.it
. In the site, in english, there is also a search engine to find all the
monuments or the museums you are interested at. General information about
the museums and accomodation.
Locality Main minerals Other Things, related sites ...other information
...
| 1 )
Malenco Valley * Demantoide * Diopside Minerals gallery |
2 )
Ala Valley * Hessonite * Diopside * Vesuvianite One of the best place for hessonite, here the xx are orange very bright; the dimensions of the cristals are till 1 cm. The localities of research are from 1 to 3 hours from the road. Some specimens in Minerals gallery |
| 3 )
Brosso Mine * Barite * Siderite * Pirite * Quartz * ... more than 70 different kind of minerals The mine is now closed, but it is possible to go inside a minimum of 4 galleries; inside the mine is very big and you have to make attention to remember the road for the return ( it is very easy to get lost ). See also the detailed article on Brosso Mine Look our experience inside this mine in our mineral trips |
4)
Monte Bianco * Fumè Quartz * Pink Fluorite * Anatase * Titanite * Rutilo * ...any kind of Alpine Minerals Locality famous in all the world for its alpine minerals. First of all Smocky ( Fumè ) Quartz and Pink Fluorite ( fantastic in association ); The research localities are very distant from the road and at high quote. Now all the area is a park and the research is restricted See also the detailed article on The mineral of Mt. Bianco Some specimens in the Minerals gallery |
| 5)
Formazza Valley * Ialine Quartz * Anatase * Titanite * Rutilo * ...any kind of Alpine Minerals Another important locality for the alpine minerals; most of all for the alpine quartz and for the hialine quartz |
6)
Baveno Quarry * Ortoclase * Fumè Quartz A big granite quarry, still active, where is possible to find fantastic specimens of ortoclase, sometimes in association with smocky quartz |
| 7)
Zogno Mine * Fluorite A closed mine not very big ( it has only 3 km of galleries ). Now several galleries are collapsed and the mine is dangerous . Here in the past perhaphs the best italian fluorites from deep violet to trasparent green were found Look our experience inside this mine in our mineral trips Some specimens are in Minerals gallery |
8)
Zorzone Mine * Emimorphite * Idrozincite * Wulfenite * Azzurrite * Malachite * ecc. Another closed mine very large and with many galleries; These are in good conditions, but you have to walk much inside to arrive in some research places Look our experience inside this mine in our mineral trips |
| 9)
Aurina Valley * Green Titanite * Apatite * Rutilo * ...any kind of Alpine Minerals A famous locality at the border with Austria, first of all this locality is important for the green titanite, but here you can find any kind of alpine mineral See also the detailed article on Aurina Valley Some specimens in the Minerals gallery |
10)
Rombo Pass * Garnet In a hour of walk from the road is possible to find the scist matrix inside which you can find the garnets ( perfect shape of max 2 cm ) |
| 11)
Fassa Valley and Siusi Alp * Heulandite * Analcime * Quartz * Vesuvianite * Fassaite This valley is in the Monzoni's mountains, that have a particoular geological history; in it is possible to find many kind and different minerals. The area gave the name to the mineral Fassaite. |
12)
Faiallo Pass * Hessonite * Vesuvianite All this area is famous for its dark red hessonite of good brightness and dimension |
| 13)
Libiola Mine * Gypsum * Botriogeno * Allofane * Calcantite If you want go inside this mine you have to know that it is very dangerous; the galleries are with a lot of water and many of them are inaccessible; inside the temperature is very hot Look our experience inside this mine in the our mineral trips Some specimens are in the Minerals gallery and in the Wholesale section |
14)
Monte Rosso * Black Quartz This is a mountain of gypsum along the river Secchia; in two places of research you can find this particular quartz completely black Some specimens are in the Wholesale section |
| 15)
Marble mine of Carrara * Ialine quartz * Sulphur * Wurtzite * ecc. In the spectacular scenario of the Apuane mountains there are the marble mines of Carrara. In the rock it is possible to find small vugs with many kind of minerals, normally small but perfect in the cristalization. For this reason this is one of the best place for micro-mounters |
16)
Campiglia * Ilvaite * Auricalcite * Gypsum A classic locality in Tuscany. From this mine, now closed, in the past we had good specimens. Now all this locality is a Mineralogical Park. All Tuscany is a region very interesting from a mineralogical point of view. Moreover it is a fantastic region from the artistic point of view...so in any case a visit to the region will satisfy you. From the mineralogical point of view an interesting site is www.imss.florence.it . This is the home page of the institute and museum of history of science of Florence. The site, in english also, contains information about the museum itself, research activities, library and other topics. There also pages dedicated to the Elba island and to the Montecatini mine. |
| 17)
Elba Island * Pyrite * Ematite * Elbaite * Beryl * Ilvaite * Prasio Quartz * ecc. In the past one of the best and most famous localities in Italy. In this small island there were fantastic specimens of Pyrite and Ematite now in the most famous museums of the world. Very famous the specimens of Elbaite (...the name of the mineral is derived from this island ). In the site www.infoelba.it you can find a description of the island and of the mines and the mineralogical museum. In addition all the turistic information about this fantastic island where you can spend a good time in taking sun and enjoing the sea on the beach.Other great page is www.elbalink.it/parco/minerali/home.html, where you'l find a lot of intersting information |
18)
Vesuvio * Vesuvianite The volcano that destroied Pompei gives us also some nice specimens of many kind of minerals, among these the Vesuvianite, that is taking the name from this volcano. Now it is almost impossible to find good specimens from this area, nevertheless there are some really marvellous archaelogical areas: Pompei and Ercolano, two ancient roman cities that were under the volcanic tuffs for 2000 years and now are visitable. They are exactly as they were 2000 years ago. |
| 19)
Osilo * Ametyst Quartz * Epistilbite * Chabasite * ecc. This nice and famous locality is in the north of Sardinia Island. Around the small city of Osilo there are some quarry, where also now you can find something Some specimens are in the Sardinia Special Page and in the Wholesale section |
20)
Arburese mines * Green anglesite * Cerussite * Pyromorphite * ecc.. Some specimens are in the Sardinia Special Page |
| 21)Silius
mines * Barite * Fluorite * Marcasite * ecc. Some specimens are in the Sardinia Special Page |
22)Iglisiente
mines * Fosgenite * Anglesite * Barite * Fluorite * ecc.. The Monteponi mine is in this area and was one of the bigger mine of Sardinia, now is close but near the mainroad for Iglesias you can see also now the big plant and the montain of 'red moud' Some specimens are in the Sardinia Special Page |
| 23)Sarrabus
mines * Silver * Argentite * Pirargite * ecc |
24)
Sicilian sulphur mines * Sulphur * Celestina * Aragonite Sicily is a large island in the very south of Italy. In the southern part of the island there were a lot of mines, of different sizes that gave probably the best specimens of sulphur in the world. In the 50's all the mines closed due to new mining methods and to a shrinkage in the demand of sulphur for industrial purposes. Now it is almost impossible to visit the most famous mines. Only few small mines very ancient are still visitable, but there isn't in practice the possibility to find good specimens.A site with a complete description of all the mines and of the geology and culture of the mines ( called zolfatare in italian ) is www.sicilianet.it . In the section CULTURA you will find, in italian, a lot of onteresting information and descriptions. |
| 25)Perticara
mine * Sulphur |
26)Niccioleta
& Campiano mine * Pirite * Gypsum * Anidrite * Fluorite * ecc |
| .27)Manciano * Stibnite * Cervanite * Ceteinite |
28)
Bregaceto * Brookite * Anatase In the mountain behind Sestri Levante in Liguria there is this locality from there are very appreciate the brookites specimens and the associations with anatases |
| 29)
Val Sugana * Fluorite * Pyromorphite |
30)Bellecombe * Vesuvianite * Diopside * Hessonite |
4)
Monte Bianco
* Pink Fluorite
7) Zogno
Mine
* Fluorite
22)Iglisiente
mines
* Fluorite
26)Niccioleta
& Campiano mine
* Fluorite
29) Val
Sugana
* Fluorite
Brosso
Mine - Ivrea - Piemonte
Iron
Mine closed in the Sixties.
Is one of the most visited from the collectors; also here there are many
levels and the entrance are almost all collapsed with some holes where
you can slip in.
Main Minerals that can be found: Siderite, Barite, Pirite, Ematite, Quartz,
Magnetite, Ludwigite, Pirrotina, Aragonite, Calcite, Scheelite, Ferberite,
Chabasite, Bournonite……and many other.
In ours trips, inside the mine, we didn't find, till now, a large pocket
as in ours dreams but good samples of siderite and barite, pirite, magnetite
ecc.BROSSO mine
This mine is relatively close to Milan and is a very famous locality.
One of the few where it is still now possible to make some interesting
finding. It is very often visited by ourselves and the other mineral collectors
of northern Italy. During the last years we made a serie of discoveries
from which we propose a selection of very interesting and representative
specimens, in some cases ( like Ludwigite, Canavesite and Pharmacolite
) in some of the best cristallisations worldwide. Consider that the name
"canavesite" derives from "canavese", the region in
which the Brosso mine is located. Since most of this specimens are from
our findings we are open also to trades.
In this page you can find a description and some curiosities about the
locality.
Geographical setting
The old mines of Brosso are relatively close to Brosso city, but are in
the area of Lessolo from which are easily reachable. From Ivrea you have
to reach Lessolo and from this Calea. .There are different indications
to the Mine and also to the restaurant close to the mine and called "
La miniera" ( very good food at reasonible prices). All the different
levels of the mine are along or close to the Assa river. Now the material
external to the mine is very old and very exploited from the mineralogical
point of view, so almost all the minerals can be found only in the galleries.
Geology
From the geological point of view the mine is located on a classic thermo-methamorphic
contact area due to the intrusion of a granodiorite batholit ( a granitoid
rock ). The batholit is called " Diorite di Traversella " and
is very small( geologically speaking ) but with a large metamorphic area
with several metallic mineralisations. These were exploited in the Brosso
mines and in the more famous Traversella mines not anymore visitable now.
As well known, normally the intrusion of igneous rocks has the effect
of metamorphizing the surrounding rocks, in this case methamorphic schists
with calcareous layers . With the igneous intrusion and partially due
also to the methamorphic processes there are some fluids circulating .
These fluids are extremely rich of diluted minerals and they cristallize
raising in the rocks and reaching lower pressures and temperatures. In
the case of Brosso, the mineralisation is mainly related to the calcareous
masses, mineralised at metallic oxides and sulphurs . The main ore minerals
are magnetite, Hematite and Pirite, but in paragenesis with a lot of different
other minerals ( more than 80 species have been officially found )
History
The mines are very old and known since the roman period. Then until the
18th century the mines were exploited for the iron. The ore minerals were
hematite and magnetite.
From the beginning of the 19th century the exploited mineral became the
pirite, used before to get the "vetriolo di ferro", very important
for the textile industry and then ( from 1858 ) for the solphoric acid.
It is very complex to reach the mineralogical locality and from the athletical
point of view is very hard..... at least in our idea.....' .
The mine and the research campaign
The mine is really enormous. It has been exploited since the roman time
and there is a citation of the famous roman writer Plinio of this mine.
As a consequence there is a lot of different galleries and different levels
of exploitation. The sistem and the kine is characterised by relatively
barren galleries and by huge caves derived by the excavation of the minerals.
Some of these caves are 400-500 m long by 100-200 m large and 10-15 m
high. To preserve from possible shakeout, some columns have been left
by the miners and the atmosphere and the aspect of these caves is relly
particular and interesting. Finally the water is inside a lot of the different
levels creating small creeks, and small lakes inside. Our opinion is that
this mine is one of the most "beautiful" of the region and a
visit is worth for its particularity.
The levels we have explored are:
SALVERE level. It is The lowest level, very close to the road where you
can park the car. The level is very wide with a lot of galleries. In this
level you can find the very rare Ludwigite that is located in a unique
place but well detectable due to the large quantity of detrites and to
the traces of work of the rock hounders. Pay attention : the mineral is
extremely hard and is really difficult to collect nice and representative
samples. Related with the Ludwigite there is the rare Canavesite in white
acicular small XX. Other minerals of this level are Magnetite, in black
bright XX, hematite and scheelite, in green to yellow XX, very rare. Calcite
and dolomite are also very common. In some lower galleries now not anymore
visitable due to the water and shakeout there was also the prasio quartz
in very nicegreen XX .
GIERINIERE level. This is an area where we made a lot of research. The
level is famous for the barite cristals that have been found. Also in
recent times ( 1993 ) a geode of more than 7 meters of lenght has been
found with white or trasparent barite XX of more than 30 cm!! The most
aesthetic association of the barite crystals is with the siderite. The
Barite, in white, pink, light blue or trasparent crystals on a carpet
of centimetric deep brown to black siderite crystals has a really aethetic
effect and is very nice. In some samples very nice balls of white pharmacolite
complete an uncommon and interesting paragenesis. In the level it is possible
to find also calcite ( dog teeth) pirite, marcasite, magnetite and hematite.
S.GIUSEPPE level: it is the highest level we explored, it is at about
45 minutes of walk from the car park, following the small road starting
from the car parking. This level is famous for the pirite crystals of
more than 10 cm that has been found ia association with quartz. In the
level you can find now the rare boulangerite, bournonite . We have found
a zone with centimetric very trasparent gypsum cristals in association
with pyrite, siderite, calcite and dolomite. The geodes are very nice
and the occurrence of gypsum, related to the oxidation of the pirite,
is particular of the locality. Other minerals are Quartz, in white to
green cristals, .......
A general recommandation for whoever has the intention to visit the mine
is important.
1- The mine is very old and the state of the galleries is dangerous. Explore
the galleries with a lot of prudence and never alone.
2- All the litter should be taken with yoursel, without leaving anythig
in this zone, very nice and interesting also from the natural point of
view.
Minerals
As previously stated, a lot of different species has been found in the
mine. Here below alist with the frequency of occurrence:
Native elements
Sulphur (rare) Arsenicum (r)
Sulphurs
Sphalerite ( rare ) Bornite ( rare ) Calchopirite ( rare ) Pirrotine (
r ) Galena ( not common ) Bismutinit ( r ) Pirite ( very common ) Marcasite
( common )
Solfosali
Bournonite ( r) Tetraedrite ( r) Boulangerite (r) Jamesonite (r)
Alogenuri
Fluorite ( r )
Oxides
Arsenolite (r) Magnetite ( common ) Hematite ( c) Quartz ( c) Rutile (
r ) Anatase ( r) Brookite (r) Plattnerite ( r) Uraninite ( r) Melanophlogite
(r)
Idroxides
Goethite (c) Limonite (vc) Brucite ( r)
Carbonates
Siderite ( vc) Mesitine ( c) Calcite ( c) Dolomite (vc) Aragonite ( vc)
Smithsonite ( pc) Cerussite (r) Ankerite (nc ) Bismutite (r) Auricalcite
( r) Nesquehonite (r) Idromagnesite (r) Piroaurite (r) Dypingite (r) Canavesite
( r)
Borates
Kotoite (r) Szaibelite (r) Inderite (r) Ludwigite (nc)
Sulphates
Barite (nc) Gypsum (nc) Anhidrite (r) Melanterite (r) Pickeringite (r)
Svanbergite (r)
Wolphramates
Wolphramite (r) Ferberite (r) Scheelite (r) Cuprotungstite (r)
Phosphates
Apatite (r) Pyromorphite (r)
Arseniates
Picropharmacolite (r) Pharmacolite (r)
Silicates
Grossularia ( nc) Phorsterite (r) Andradite (r) titanite (r) Chloritoide
(r) Epidote (r) Diopside (r) Phassaite (r) Hyperstene (r) Actinolite (r)
Horneblende (r) Glaucophane (r) Pirophillite (r) Biortite (c) Clinoclore
(r) Antigorite (r) Lizardite (r) Crisotile (r) Cronstedtite (r) Sepiolite
(r) Allophane (r) Talc (c) Orthoclase (r)
Is Murvonis Mine - Domusnovas - Sardinia
Fluorite Mine closed in the ' 60. This mine is famous in Sardinia for
nice Fluorite crystals from light purple to deep purple and green in association
with hemimorphite , quarz and auricalcite.
The photos are from our july 99 trip we went in the upper level where
we recover some flourite but above all very nice auricalcite specimens
with crystals spread over flourite and hemimorphite. It's very hard to
recover specimens and we had to work for two days
Fluorite
from Zogno Mine
Blue Fluorite from Virgolo Mountain
In this page a selection of specimens from this closed fluorite mine;
all the specimens have a deep corrosion due to mud that filled the vug.
Many crystals show an internal phantom and the colour change from deep
blue to clear green.
For more information about this mine you can see the article on Lapis
( 1999 ) and La rivista mineralogica italiana ( Nr. 3-1999 )
-----------------------------------------------
This page is dedicated to a not well known mineral occurence in Italy:
the Virgolo mountain, close to Bolzano, in the north-eastern part of the
Italian Alps. This mountain is contituted by porfiroids of Permian age,
in these rocks there are some fissures, sometimes mineralized with fluorite.
The "classical" fluorite from Virgolo is yellow to light green,
but the pieces that we present you are the result of a very lucky and
absolutely unique finding : the fluorite is in three generations: pale
yellow. covered by the blue one, susequently covered by a third generation,
pale yellow to white fluorite in small crystals. Between the first and
the second fluorite generation there is a quartz recrystallisation: in
some samples the blue fluorite crystals are well stacked on the white
quartz, with a very nice and aesthetic effect. The color under artificial
light is purple
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLUOX40 - Blue Fluorite - $15
Virgolo (Italy)
5x6 cm A nice piece crystallized with centimentric fluorite XX, nice color
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLUOX1- Blue Fluorite - $15
Virgolo - Italy
Miniature, 5x3 cm
A nice piece
crystallized with blue fluorite XX, over pale green crystals
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLUOX39 - Blue Fluorite - $10
Virgolo (Italy)
7 x 4 cm A nice piece crystallized with centimentric fluorite XX, light
blue color
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLUOX16 - Blue Fluorite - 15 $
Virgolo Italy
5x7 cm A nice piece crystallized with centimentric fluorite XX, pale color
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BSC204 - 35$
Zogno mine,Bergamo-Italy
4 X 3 cm. A large single from a classical Italian mine.With small matrix
on the back
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLC06 - Fluorite - $ 15
Zogno Mine (BG) - Italy
small cabinet, 5 x 4 cm
Part of
a cube ( side 8 cm ) with deep blue colour
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLC07 - Fluorite - $ 15
Zogno Mine (BG) - Italy
small cabinet, 5 x 4 cm
Complex
xx structure from deep blue to blue colour
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLC11 - Fluorite - $ 25
Zogno Mine (BG) - Italy
cabinet, 8x7 cm
Part of
a big cube ( side 8 cm ) with deep blue colour
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLC12 - Fluorite - $ 30
Zogno Mine (BG) - Italy
cabinet, 10x8 cm
Single big
half cube ( side 8 cm ) of clear green colour
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLC08 - Fluorite - $ 15
Zogno Mine (BG) - Italy
small cabinet, 6x5 cm
Single cube
( 3,5 cm ) not well formed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLB02 - Fluorite $ 25
Zogno Mine (BG) - Italy
Small cabinet, 5x5 cm
This one
has nice green X of 5 cm light green - violet
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLC03 - Fluorite - $ 25
Zogno Mine (BG) - Italy
cabinet, 7x7 cm
Intersection
of two cubes ( partially complete ) of fluorite, dark violet with no matrix;
the crystals show etched surface
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLC04 - Fluorite - $ 40
Zogno Mine (BG) - Italy
cabinet, 8x8 cm
Cube ( almost
complete ) of fluorite, dark violet inside with no matrix; the the crystals
show etched surface
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FLC05 - Fluorite - $ 35
Zogno Mine (BG) - Italy
cabinet, 8x7 cm
Another
rapresentative specimen from this mine, in this case the colour of the
fluorite cube is pale green, very bright and transparent;
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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THE FLUORITE
IN ITALY
Our group at the end of a research day in the Zogno mine. Behind the group
you can see the mine entrance
In Italy we had a lot of mines of this mineral with historical findings
very interesting. The most famous was the Corvara mine, with green to
uncolored cubes up to several decimeter of side . The crystals were so
transparent that were utilized to construct lenses for miscroscopes!!!
Other green fluorites are from the Val Sugana mines ( Cinquevalli and
Vignola ). Violet and green fluorites are from Sardinia , mainly Is Murvonis,
sometimes in association with auricalcite, and su Zurfuru, very famous
the " cross" gemination.
The best samples are from the Zogno mine,
where the fluorite is in loose cubes or groups of crystals isolated or
over white quartz in large pockets in the rock completely filled with
mud.
We had the chance to open one of these pockets with some outstanding finds,
as you can see in these pictures.
Zogno Mine - Bergamo - Lombardia
Fluorite Mine closed in the ' 70.
Is one of the most small but also more interesting mine; there is only
one level effectively good, the others are closed, but if you are lucky
and well prepared you can find very good things.
The main minerals that can be found is Fluorite in big cristals and in
different colors from clear green to deep purple
In ours trips, inside the mine, we found some vogue with very nice specimens
but as you see recovering specimens is not very easy
