RHODOCHROSITE & QUARTZ. Main Stope, 3rd Crosscut, Sweet Home Mine (Home Sweet Home Mine), Mount Bross, Alma District, Park...

Description

RHODOCHROSITE & QUARTZ
Main Stope, 3rd Crosscut, Sweet Home Mine (Home Sweet Home Mine), Mount Bross, Alma District, Park Co., Colorado, USA

As savvy collectors around the world know, Rhodochrosite from Colorado is unsurpassed for size, depth of color and perfection of form. Many of the mines in the San Juan Mountains produced varying amounts of this attractive, rosy-red mineral. One of the few mining operations that specifically sought to recover Rhodochrosite was focused on the Sweet Home Mine near Alma in Park County. There, sophisticated prospecting techniques allowed miners to home in on likely structures hidden within the rock walls of this old Silver mine. Careful mining and extraction allowed a major percentage of the specimens encountered to be removed with the least amount of ancillary damage. This specimen was among those produced during the period that the mining project was in operation. It consists of a gray Quartz matrix sporting a forest of tiny colorless Quartz needles with small, darkly metallic Tetrahedrite masses in between and around them. Springing up and out from this spiny backdrop are seven razor-sharp rhombs of deep red with pink overtones and glassy luster. The largest of the Rhodochrosites measures 1.13 inches (3 cm) across and all of them are in pristine original condition. The bottom of the specimen bears a C.E. inventory number "SH2337" which corresponds to an accompanying label.
Overall measurements: 3.75 x 3.2 x 1.9 inches (9.5 x 8.1 x 4.8 cm).

Provenance: Collector's Edge [Hoppel # D0385]

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