"The Asbestos Mine at Amiandos" Cyprus Favorite Tip by Geoff_Wright

Fondest memory: As a very amatuer geologist, I found Cyprus rich in places to visit. A fond memory at the time, but I can't say that it is now - was a visit to the asbestos mine at Amiandos, about 5km East of Troodos. We had a prior arrangement for a guided tour of the mine, and went one Saturday. As you can see from the photo, it was cold, and very overcast. Did you know that asbestos - as used for roofing sheets, brake linings for cars and so on - comes from a rock? The mineral Chrysotile is common in Cyprus. If you find a piece you will see veins of fibres running through it. Scratch these fibres in one direction and they remain hard as the rock, but scratch across the fibres and they become fluffy and soft. We visited the mine before the dangers of asbestos fibres were widely known to the public, and what a dusty place it was. The rock was excavated, and fed into the top of a large building, as seen in the photo. It then falls through the floors and is crushed each step of the way. A large vaccum machine then extracts the asbestos fibres, which are finally dried in a rotary kiln, before further processing. I don't think I would like to return again