A group of miners were left stunned when they discovered a stunning cluster of shimmering Amethyst crystals – in the shape of a HEART.
The miners came across a geode – a spherical lump of volcanic rock with a cavity inside – as they worked a new mine in Artigas, Uruguay, near the border with Brazil.
The workers at Uruguay Minerals’ Santa Rosa mine were able to smash open the hard rock lump with an excavator and were amazed to find what was hidden inside.
They found a perfect, heart-shaped cluster of violet-coloured Amethyst crystals surrounded by a band of white crystals.
The rare Amethyst crystals had formed inside the geode’s cavity millions of years ago and taken on the unusual, striking shape.
Uruguay Minerals spokesman Marcos Lorenzilli said workers at the new mine had been allowed to look for geodes and came across one made of basalt.
He said: “However, the basalt was very hard, so one of them joked, ‘now we have to find something amazing due to the hard work we have to do here.’
“Turns out, the basalt was harder than usual, so it required quite a bit of work to get it cracked open.
“But they persevered and did it. And boy, was it worth it!
“After two or three hours, they moved a basalt rock and with the excavator machine, opened a heart-shaped amethyst geode—what a treasure!
“Geodes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but this turned out to be quite a unique find, never before unearthed by the company.
“This is very unique and it’s the first time we found something like this.”
The company immediately shared their find with its followers on their website and various social media.
* Geodes are spherical rock structures with an internal cavity lined with mineral materials which can be several metres in length.
They have a hard outer wall that is more resistant to weathering than the surrounding bedrock.
This allows the geode to survive intact when the surrounding bedrock weathers away and crystals often form in the cavity.
Many of the world’s amethysts are found in Uruguay or Brazil.
