Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. David Bressan is a geologist who covers curiosities about Earth. Discovered in 1999 during mining operations in the Mina Rica (the ...

Sparkling hollows filled with lustrous crystals, dubbed geodes, are often perceived as small objects that can fit comfortably on a bookshelf. But some are more like gigantic cathedrals filled with a ...

Lots of kids collect minerals, but Richard Berger wasn’t one of them. The Bronx native didn’t see his first chunk of quartz until he was in his 20s. Disillusioned with medical school, Berger was ...

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 ...

THE “managing dreamer” of the Crystal Castle in the Byron hinterland has mortgaged his property to buy what could be two of the world’s largest crystals. Naren King said he acquired the massive stones ...

Taken by themselves, geodes are gorgeous, with the insides lined with crystals that add a sense of beauty and wonder to the rocks, and they become even more amazing when they are dinosaur eggs, as was ...

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