1.8" Vibrant Pink Rhodochrosite - Sweet Home Mine, Colorado

Vibrant Pink Rhodochrosite - Sweet Home Mine, Colorado #283836

This is a 1.8" wide piece of intense red-pink rhodochrosite from the famed Sweet Home Mine in Park County, Colorado. This is one of the world's best localities for rhodochrosite, often producing massive rhombohedral crystals in deep shades of red and magenta. This crystal cluster is a beauty, showing off numerous lustrous faces and characteristic cleavage on a galena and quartz matrix.

Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate mineral with the chemical composition MnCO3. The crystals typically have a rosy pink to red coloration with rhombohedral cleaving in three directions. It forms from hydrothermal pockets and can be found as both crystals and in banded formations. Its color and occasional banding patterns make it a popular stone for faceting and cutting into cabochons. Premier specimens come from China, South Africa, Argentina, where it is the national mineral, and from the Sweet Home Mine in Alma, Colorado.

Galena is a lead-based mineral and the primary ore of lead, and has been used for its lead content for thousands of years. Galena typically displays a gray metallic luster and forms cubes or octahedral crystals. The chemical composition of galena is PbS.

While galena will not pose a health hazard by sitting on the shelf or even from casual handling, we suggest washing hands following handling due to the mineral's lead content.

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