Amethyst geodes—some stretching 5 m long—dot the ancient lava flows of Uruguay’s Los Catalanes mining area. The geodes contain calcite, colorless quartz, and agate, another quartz mineral. Large ...

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz which has been used as a gemstone for many centuries and is a key economic resource in northern Uruguay. Geodes are hollow rock formations often with quartz ...

Göttingen University researcher Fiorella Arduin Rode working in open pit mine of the study area, Los Catalanes mining district, northern Uruguay. Along with Ametista do Sul in southern Brazil, these ...