Rhodochrosite on Quartz (mined 1978 by Richard Kosnar and Dave Bergman)

Item Description

The world-famous Sweet Home Mine is the source of what are unquestionably some of the finest crystals of Rhodochrosite ever found. Starting in 1977, Rich Kosnar and his father-in-law Dave Bergman acquired the lease for this historic mine, and were the first people to ever operate the Sweet Home specifically for specimen recovery. In the few years they worked at the locality, they found fine quality specimens, some of which were unlike anything that had been found previously. This piece was personally collected by Dave Bergman and Rich Kosnar in 1978 and remained in the Kosnar family collection until very recently. Dave is now retired from mining, but he was one of the best underground specimen collectors in the history of Colorado mining. This piece is a wonderful cabinet sized display featuring attractive, sharp, rich pink-red color, rhombic crystals of Rhodochrosite in a "stepped" formation sitting on colorless to white "needle" Quartz and associated with various sulfides (Sphalerite, Pyrite, etc.). The largest individual Rhodochrosite crystal measures 3.7 cm on its longest edge. The Rhodos are in good shape overall, but they're not damage free, as there are some rough spots and cleaves. A great historical piece of Sweet Home Rhodo, and a great "time capsule" specimen to show what kind of pieces were coming out of the mine at that time.