Detailed information
Species
Rhodochrosite, Fluorite, Quartz
Dimensions
35 x 45 x 22
mm
Weight
24 g
Locality
Silverton, Animas District San Juan County Colorado, USA
Condition
No recorded repairs
Rhodochrosite from Silverton, San Juan County, Colorado, often gets overlooked in favour of the more intense, raspberry pink-red crystals from Sweet Home mine in Park County. Crystals from Silverton are usually a pale pastel pink colour, but are beautiful in their own right. They usually herald from the Sunnyside mine or American Tunnel mine, but more often than not their exact source is not recorded, as is the case here. This miniature specimen from Silverton was in a fluorite collection because of the glassy colourless Fluorite crystal, but for me the Rhodochrosite is far more important, comprising a superb, intact, 1.5 cm pale pink flattened rhombic crystal upon which are several small white to colourless terminated 'needle' Quartz crystals. The Rhodochrosite is opaque and surrounded by other smaller rhombic crystals. Minor spots of sulphides including, Chalcopyrite, Galena and Sphalerite are seen on the reverse. A previous label shows that this specimen was in Marty Zinn's collection. A pretty Colorado miniature.