Naica Mine Discovered by chance
These stunning white beams of gypsum have been growing at a snail's pace for hundreds of thousands of years in caves below Naica in Mexico.
Ten years after the amazing discovery, scientists are petitioning the Mexican government to claim for Unesco World Heritage status to protect the unique formations for future generations.
'They're really one of the Wonders of the World,' said Juanma Garcia Ruiz, a geologist from Spain's Instituto Andaluz de Las Ciencias de la Tierra, who has studied at the mine.
These stunning images, which were taken by world-renowned Spanish photographer Javier Trueba, show the sheer size of the crystals, some of which measure up to 11 metres.
Growing slowly over time, it is still unclear why the formations fill the caves at such haphazard angles.
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