Calcite (manganese-bearing)

Item Description

The famous Idarado Mine in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado produced many excellent crystallized mineral specimens in its day. The unique name for this locality comes from combination of the Idaho based Sunshine Mining Company and Newmont Mining in Colorado {IDA-ho + coloRADO = IDARADO}). This piece is a fine display specimen featuring attractive, soft pink colored, manganese-bearing scalenohedral crystals of Calcite measuring up to 2.7 cm, with no matrix. One of the larger Calcites is cleaved, but the rest seem to be undamaged as far as I can see with the naked eye. This mine has been close for decades, and you can't get them anymore, so don't miss out if you're a fan of minerals of Colorado. From the collection of Richard ("Dick") Philip Hauck formerly of Bloomfield, New Jersey and now a resident of Franklin, New Jersey. Dick is an avid collector of minerals, books, and mining memorabilia, along with being an accomplished author in the mineral world. Arguably, his greatest claim to fame is being the co-founder of the Sterling Hill Mining Museum in Ogdensburg, NJ. Dick purchased the land on which the Sterling Hill Mine resides in 1988, and the museum has been running strong since.