Rhodocrosite, Sweet Home Mine, Colorado

Colorado's Rocky Mountains are blessed with several famous rhodocrosite localities. Arguably, the Sweet Home Mine is the most famous of all. A mediocre silver mine in the past, the Sweet Home mine has yielded many impressive rhodos on beds of micro-quartz crystals with associated fluorite, sphalerite, pyrite and other minerals. This modest specimen is almost entirely composed of rhodocrosite. There are a few rhombohedral terminations on this peachy-pink cluster, along with a small quartz crystal on one side. Although somewhat crudely crystallized, the colour makes this piece stand out. From a large collection of rhodocrosites within Garry Kolodinsky's greater collection. From Sweet Home Mine, near Alma, Park County, Colorado. Dimensions: 5 cm x 6 cm