Calcite with Siderite (Mined: 1983)

Item Description

You don't see a lot of specimens from this locality, as it's a bit obscure, but well-versed Colorado collectors know about it. For years it produced some of the most interesting and easily identifiable Calcites from anywhere in the state. The piece hosts excellent, sharp, translucent, well-formed, classic, colorless, rhombic and scalenohedral crystals of Calcite with a satiny interior, which are coated by a selective deposition of burnt orange botryoidal Siderite to create a beautiful effect. The largest Calcite crystal measures 8 mm, and most crystals are damage free. A very attractive and hard to find display specimen that would make a great addition to a Calcite suite or a collection of Colorado minerals. The piece was self-collected in 1984 by Dave Bergman and comes from his personal collection. Dave is an accomplished miner from Colorado, and is now retired. He worked for decades in various mines underground in Colorado, as a miner, mechanic, engineer, shift boss and foreman. His biggest claim to fame is that he was the foreman and the primary person in charge of mining and specimen recovery at the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado in the 1970s alongside his son-in-law, Rich Kosnar. This project what was the FIRST ever operation for specimen recovery at this historic locality. A full-page photograph of Dave can be seen mining underground at the Sweet Home in on page 58 of Peter Bancroft's book "Gem and Crystal Treasures".