Core material from carbonate cemented sandstones of Eocene age from the Maracaibo Basin, Venezuela, exhibits evidence of post-burial sideritisation of calcite. the process being identical in its essentials with dolomitisation. and resulting in a marked increase in porosity and permeability of the cemented sandstones. As a result of this increase, sub-surface waters have been able to leach out much of the sideritc cement, and subsequent mechanical compaction of the sandstones has produced a characteristic “bead”-like arrangement of remnant sideritc granules around the sand grains. The whole process can be reconstructed from thin-sections, and these are used to illustrate the text.