Other minerals

 

A small deposit of celestite (SrCO₃) was discovered in 1977 in the southern part of Cyprus near Maroni village.  It occurs at the top of the Kalavassos Formation and is associated with reef limestone that occurs above and locally within the gypsum.  Celestite has also been identified as inclusions in gypsum occurrences in the northern part of the island.

Recrystallised limestone of the Mamonia Complex has been quarried as raw material for the production of mosaic tiles.  The limestone is found in the Petra tou Romiou (Dhiarizos Group) and Ayia Varvara Formations, within the Mamonia Complex, and is Triassic to Cretaceous in age.  It occurs as large detached, exotic blocks, from few tens of cubic metres to more than 100,000 cubic metres, enclosed within the generally softer Mamonia Mélange.  The limestone is extracted on a small scale and crushed and screened on site.  The product has good colour, strength, polishing characteristics and low porosity. It is incorporated into cement tiles that are then polished.

Historically, interest has been shown in minerals bearing manganese, nickel, cobalt, zinc, gold and silver.  The main manganese occurrences are located in the Perapedhi Formation, often associated with the umber deposits where it is present as oxides in small nodules of psilomelane and pyrolusite. It also occurs in association with chert in the Mamonia Formation (Ayios Photios Group), and also in narrow veins along faults in the pillow lavas. It has been reported that masses up to one tonne in weight have been collected for export, and production of around 200 tonnes occurred between 1926 and 1957.  Manganese occurrences have also been identified in the Karpas Peninsula near the villages of Leonarisso and Platanissos.  Nickel and cobalt in minor quantities are associated with pyrrhotite in the chromite ores of the ultrabasic sequence.  Zinc is found in small amounts in massive sulphides but only of commercial interest at Agrokipia underground and Kynousa Mines.  Gold and silver are found in small quantities associated with the massive sulphides.  They occurred in elevated quantities mainly in the supergene zones above massive sulphide deposits (the gossan, which is an iron-bearing weathered product overlying a sulphide deposit, formed by the oxidation of sulphides) and notably in soft, spongy, friable masses of white silicates referred to as “Devil’s Mud”.  Gold and silver were produced in Cyprus by the cyanidation process with a maximum production in 1938 of 29 ounces of fine gold and almost 200 ounces of silver.  In total, 167 ounces of gold and 984 ounces of silver were recovered in Cyprus between 1934 and 1944.  Before then consignments were exported for treatment.