Rhodochrosite (classic material)

Item Description

A wonderful full-sized miniature display specimen of these classic Uchuccchacua Rhodochrosites. A 1.0 cm, flame red colored, gemmy scalenohedral crystal sits in the center of the specimen associated with a few smaller secondary Rhodos, with small dark grey "balls" of manganese oxide sitting on host rock matrix. There are a few nicks to the main Rhodo, so it's not pristine, but it is GEM quality when backlit. It's nearly water clear internally when backlit, and looks like a jewel. Classic material from what are the arguably the best gem red Rhodochrosites from Peru.
From the collection of Armon McPherson, a retired physicist, now living in New Mexico. Armon received his PhD from North Carolina State University in 1985, and worked at the laser laboratory at the University of Illinois at Circle Center. In the summer of 1997, Armon moved to the Argonne National Laboratory where he worked at the Advanced Photon Source, then the world’s largest synchrotron facility dedicated as an x-ray source. In 2001, he was asked to join a team at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque to conduct laser research for DARPA. Finally, staying within Sandia, he transferred to the Z Facility, the world’s most powerful x-ray facility. He retired in the spring of 2017. Armon's introduction to mineral collecting came in the 1980s during graduate school when he attended his first mineral show. He took up the hobby of faceting gems, and focused his early collection on gem crystals, and later transitioned into collecting non-gem species. We are proud to offer specimens from his worldwide mineral collection here for you.