In which district of the Badakhshan Province is the settlement located which is famous for its ancient mines, which produce a deep blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color, and are said to produce the world's finest of this stone?
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Lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli ( , ), or lapis for short, is a deep blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, in Shortugai, and in other mines in Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan. Lapis was highly valued by the Indus Valley Civilisation (3300–1900 BC). Lapis beads have been found at Neolithic burials in Mehrgarh, the Caucasus, and even as far from Afghanistan as Mauritania. It was used in the funeral mask of Tutankhamun (1341–1323 BC).
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Sar-i Sang Sar-i Sang (or Sar-e Sang) is a settlement in the Kuran Wa Munjan District of Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan, famous for its ancient lapis lazuli mines producing the world's finest lapis.
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Jeti-Ögüz Rocks The Jeti-Ögüz Rocks is a geological protected area (nature monument) located in Jeti-Ögüz District of Issyk-Kul Province of Kyrgyzstan. It was established in 1975 with a purpose of conservation of a unique geological formation - sheer cliffs composed of tertiary red conglomerates. The name derives from the rock formation's resemblance to seven bulls and a legend about a khan's unfaithful wife. Another near-by formation is called the 'broken heart'. The rock formation is a well-known landmark in Kyrgyzstan and is seen as a national or regional symbol, and hence is the subject of paintings, songs, and even music videos. The surrounding area is known for its natural environment.
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Lomonosov diamond mine The Lomonosov mine is one of the largest diamond mines in Russia and in the world. The mine is located in the north-western part of the country in the Arkhangelsk Oblast. The mine has estimated reserves of 220 million carats of diamonds and an annual production capacity of 2 million carats.
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Cerro Rico Cerro Rico (Spanish for "rich mountain"), Cerro Potosí ("Potosí mountain") or Sumaq Urqu (Quechua "sumaq" beautiful, good, pleasant, "urqu" mountain, "beautiful (good or pleasant) mountain") is a mountain in the Andes near the Bolivian city of Potosí. Cerro Rico was famous for providing vast quantities of silver for Spain during the period of the New World Spanish Empire. The mountain, which is popularly conceived of as being "made of" silver ore, caused the city of Potosí to become one of the largest cities in the New World. After 1800, the silver mines were depleted, making tin the main product. This eventually led to a slow economic decline. Nevertheless, the mountain continues to be mined for silver to this day. Due to poor worker conditions, such as a lack of protective equipment against the constant inhalation of dust, many of the miners contract silicosis and have a life expectancy of around 40 years. The mountain is still a significant contributor to the city's economy, employing some 15,000 miners.
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Yanar Dag Yanar Dag (Azerbaijani: "Yanar Dağ" , meaning "burning mountain") is a natural gas fire which blazes continuously on a hillside on the Absheron Peninsula on the Caspian Sea near Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan (a country which itself is known as "the Land of Fire"). Flames jet into the air 3 m from a thin, porous sandstone layer. Administratively, Yanar Dag belongs to Absheron District of Azerbaijan.
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Meleke Meleke (Arabic: ملكي‎ ‎ , "royal", "kingly")—also transliterated melekeh or malaki—is a lithologic type of white, coarsely crystalline, thickly bedded limestone found in the Judean Hills in Israel and the West Bank. It has been used in the traditional architecture of Jerusalem since ancient times, especially in Herodian architecture. Though it is often popularly referred to as Jerusalem stone, this phrase can refer to a number of different types of stone found and used in, or associated with, Jerusalem.
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Serabit el-Khadim Serabit el-Khadim (Arabic: سرابيط الخادم‎ ‎ ] (also transliterated Serabit al-Khadim, Serabit el-Khadem) is a locality in the southwest Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, where turquoise was mined extensively in antiquity, mainly by the ancient Egyptians. Archaeological excavation, initially by Sir Flinders Petrie, revealed ancient mining camps and a long-lived Temple of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess who was favoured as a protector in desert regions.
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Kalimashi 2 mine The Kalimashi 2 mine is a large mine located near the village Kalimash in northern Albania in Kukës County, 80 km north-east of the capital, Tirana. Kalimashi 2 represents one of the largest chromium reserve in Albania and one of the largest in Europe having estimated reserves of 0.4 million tonnes of ore grading 20% chromium metal. The mine is part of the Kukës Massif, a 108 km2 area which has a rock thickness between 4 km and 6 km and contains 54 verified chromium deposits and occurrences. The deposit has been explored to depths of up to 300 m and the geological reserves amount to 6.8 million tonnes grading 21.4% chromium metal.
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Dazu District Dazu District () is a district of Chongqing, China. It is where the famous Dazu Rock Carvings, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located.
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Almandine Almandine , also known incorrectly as almandite, is a species of mineral belonging to the garnet group. The name is a corruption of alabandicus, which is the name applied by Pliny the Elder to a stone found or worked at Alabanda, a town in Caria in Asia Minor. Almandine is an iron alumina garnet, of deep red color, inclining to purple. It is frequently cut with a convex face, or en cabochon, and is then known as carbuncle. Viewed through the spectroscope in a strong light, it generally shows three characteristic absorption bands.
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Kyanite Kyanite is a typically blue silicate mineral, commonly found in aluminium-rich metamorphic pegmatites and/or sedimentary rock. Kyanite in metamorphic rocks generally indicates pressures higher than four kilobars. Although potentially stable at lower pressure and low temperature, the activity of water is usually high enough under such conditions that it is replaced by hydrous aluminosilicates such as muscovite, pyrophyllite, or kaolinite. Kyanite is also known as disthene, rhaeticite and cyanite.
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Azakhel Payan Azakhel Payan (Pashto: اضاخيل پايان‎ ) is a village of Nowshera District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Its Geographical Coordinates are: 33° 59' 0" North, 71° 53' 0" East and its original name (with diacritics) is "Äza Khel Payan". It lies along the Grand Trunk Road, some 13 km west of Nowshera. The majority of the population of Azakhel Payan are engaged in agriculture, mainly potatoes, sugar cane, wheat, corn, tomato, cucumber and numerous other vegetables. According to the Pakistan Forest Institute, "pale yellow silt-stone forms the soil parent material near Azakhel Payan village." There is an Afghan Refugee Camp located here.
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Gemstone A gemstone (also called a gem, fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semi-precious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, and jade) or organic materials that are not minerals (such as amber, jet, and pearl) are also used for jewelry and are therefore often considered to be gemstones as well. Most gemstones are hard, but some soft minerals are used in jewelry because of their luster or other physical properties that have aesthetic value. Rarity is another characteristic that lends value to a gemstone.
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Saimaluu Tash Saimaluu Tash (meaning 'embroidered' or 'patterned stones' in Kyrgyz) is a petroglyph site in Jalal-Abad Province, Kyrgyzstan, south of Kazarman. Over 10,000 carved pictures—and perhaps as many as 11,000 —which are black-and-white rock paintings, have so far been identified, making the site a globally important collection of rock art. They are a sacred display of offerings of the ancient people of the lower valley.
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Tursunzoda District Tursunzoda District (Tajik: Турсунзода, Russian spelling: Tursunzade) is the westernmost district of the Districts of Republican Subordination (RRP), bordering on Uzbekistan in the west and enclosed by Tajikistan's Shahrinaw District from the other directions. Its capital is Tursunzoda, called Regar, or "a town on sand", until 1978. Thanks to its warm weather and plentiful irrigation from the local rivers (Shirkent, Karatag, Kofarnihon), Tursunzoda district is a major grower of rice and cotton in Tajikistan. In 2006 it produced 1,400 tons of rice (13% of Tajikistan's rice harvest) and 7,300 tons of cotton (3% of Tajikistan's cotton harvest). It ranks first in the production of these commodities among the districts in RRP.
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Varzaqan Varzeqan (Persian: ورزقان‎ ‎ ; also Romanized as Varzeqān and Warzagan; formerly, Karzigan (Persian: كَرزيگَن), also Romanized as Kārzigān and Karzygan) is a city in and the capital of Varzaqan County, East Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 3,549, in 930 families. The city is famous for the Sungun copper mine, 25 km from the city centre, which is estimated to have 3 percent of the known copper reserves in the world.
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Istalif Istālif (Persian: استالف‎ ‎ ) is a village 18 mi northwest of Kabul, Afghanistan, situated at an elevation of 1693 m . It is the center of Istalif District, Kabul Province, Afghanistan. The village was destroyed during the long-lasting wars around Kabul. There are a few repaired or newly constructed buildings. The village needs a lot of work to be done to return its previous state. Istalif is famous for its handmade glazed potteries. Its name might derive from Greek "staphile" ("bunch of grapes") or Parachi "estuf" ("cow-parsnip").
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Bazgir, Badakhshan Bazgir is a village in Badakhshan Province in north-eastern Afghanistan. It is located on the western side of the Ishkashim Pass, roughly 5 miles from it on the western side of the valley.
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Hathial Hathial is an ancient archaeological site next to Bhir Mound, just south of Sirkap, in the area of Taxila in Pakistan. It is quite a large site, in which red burnished ware and various materials were discovered similar to those of Charsada. This suggest that the establishment of the Hathial site may go back as far as 1000 BCE. The adjoining settlement of Bhir Mound was only created later, probably around 500 BCE.
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Bazman Bazman (Persian: بزمان‎ ‎ , also known as Kuh-e Bazman) is a stratovolcano in a remote desert region of Sistan and Baluchestan Province in south-eastern Iran. A 500-m-wide crater caps the summit of the dominantly andesitic-dacitic volcano, the flanks of which are covered by monogenetic centres especially to the northwest. Bazman is a geologically young volcano which was made in the Quaternary, with the oldest dated rocks being 11.7 million years old and the youngest 0.6 million years. Although no historic eruptions have been reported from Bazman, it does contain fumaroles. Thus Bazman may be regarded as dormant, rather than extinct. Its satellite cones have been the source of basaltic lava flows.
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Dashti Qala District 'Dashte Qala District (دشت قلعه) is a district of Takhar Province, Afghanistan. District was split-off from Khwaja Ghar District. this district is one of the best of Takhar that has best location and vurdured district,and this district is so closed to Tajikistan also it has an ancient place and most popular in Takhar within Afghanistan, that named (Ai Khanum)-آی خانم) in this place people mostly go for taking picnics in spring and also in summer seasons .