Rhodochrosite (rare crystals for the locality)

Item Description

The Rhodochrosite specimens from Argentina re world famous for their fantastic color, but they are typically found in large uncrystallized, concentric banded / stalactitic masses, which are often cut and polished to reveal the beautiful patterns. With that said, CRYSTALLIZED specimens from this locality are incredibly hard to find, and this display piece features a layer of beautiful defined rhombohedra of Rhodochrosite overgrowing a multicolored banded massive layer of Rhodo underneath. Additionally, one side of the piece is polished, allowing the banded portion of the specimen to really stand out. If you collect worldwide Rhodochrosite, this is a really cool piece to add to your collection because crystallized specimens like this are quite difficult to obtain from any Argentine locality.
This piece comes from the personal collection of Colorado mining legend, Dave Bergman, the maternal grandfather of Brian Kosnar. Dave is now retired from mining, but 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".