Rhodochrosite on Quartz

Item Description

The famous Sunnyside Mine in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado has produced some very well known Rhodochrosite specimens, which are only second behind the Rhodos from the Sweet Home Mine. This wonderful small cabinet piece hosts attractive, rhombs of soft pink colored Rhodochrosite measuring up to 1.1 cm across sitting on a matrix coated by drusy white crystallized Quartz. The piece is in superb condition all over, with no major damage that I can find, only a few small imperfections. My favorite aspect of the piece is that when you backlight the bigger Rhodo crystals, you can see that they are CHERRY RED inside, just like the famous crystals from the Sweet Home Mine. Most people aren't aware that the Sunnyside crystals are rather red in the center, but they have a secondary overgrowth of a lighter pink opaque layer of Rhodochrosite, which prevents the red from showing through. With that said, this is still an eye-catching specimen for any collector of Rhodochrosites or specimens from Colorado from this well known mine in southwestern Colorado.