Gypsum (RARE Egypt tunnel dig - 1981)

Item Description

A small cabinet disk of stacked plates of pearlescent, clay-included gypsum are dramatically highlighted on both sides of disk by more gypsum disks dramatically rising above the primary disk. The large 4.7 cm vertical disk on one side with smaller attached disks is a stunner. The bottom hosts smaller disks to 2.7 cm. The translucent edges add much character. Ghostly white LW UV fluorescence. Complete all-around and essentially pristine, except for two out-of-sight cleaved ends to disks on the bottom of the piece. Amazing for such a soft mineral. This is RARE and bizarre looking floater gypsum from the 1.63 km long, two lane automotive Ahmed Hamdi I Tunnel beneath the Suez Canal in Egypt. The Tunnel was constructed in 1981 and rehabilitated in 1992 (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Hamdi_Tunnel). MINDAT does NOT list the locality. Exotic and rare Egypt gypsum. We obtained a small lot sold by a former mining engineer there.