Rhodochrosite & Bertrandite, Smoky Quartz (ex Kay Robertson Coll.)

Item Description

Rhodochrosite in well-formed crystals is VERY RARE from this Soviet-era military-run tungsten mine. Specimens came out only in the early to mid-1990s and the mine closed in 1996. This outstanding and RARE combinationm is dominated by the dramatically placed 3.0 cm, on the diagonal, lustrous, translucent, light rose-red pristine rhomb. The undulating surface around the rhodo is festooned with glassy, tabular bertrandite prisms, to 1.2 cm, and scattered small rhodos. The underlying matrix is glassy smoky quartz, an additional uncommon bonus. Formerly in the Scott Williams Collection. Ex Kay Robertson Collection # 12627. Kay is a prominent California collector, who specialized in European classics (see the article in the March-April, 2007 Mineralogical Record). Superb and rare Kara-Oba combination rhodochrosite. Valued at $1250-1500 for rarity and high quality. A MUST for the species or locality collector!