Azurite, cerussite, malachite. Fluorites and agardite. Aragonite and cubanite. Names from another world, some of which were probably known to the children by their parents, who used to pick up these beautiful minerals from the ancient galleries spread acrossthe Lavreotiki region. So, they too began to pickout this fascinating rocks one by one and bring them into the light of day, carrying them through dump trails several kilometers long in rusty carts, lost in the depths of the galleries, yet still of use.
These children are now all grown up; they are the adults who speak assionately about the originality of the 600 different kinds of minerals found in the area of Lavrion, some of which are literally unique as they are not found anywhere else in the world. They cannot help but become emotional every time they discover a new mineral or when they describe the interior of the underground galleries and the lives of the miners. They talk in excitement about the barns of animals that ere used by miners so as to transport the ores they had excavated with their hammer and chisel under the light offered by oil lamps made of clay. They describe vividly the colours formed by oxidation on the walls, the uncanny diversity and beauty of stalagmite formations or the rust-covered carts, in use for more than a century by the mining workers of the French Mining Company that are now left abandoned. Hopefully, they will keepcarryingthevaluable miningtreasures, passing on to next generations this passion to discover and learn more about the underground wealth and the mining history of their birth place.
