Rhodochrosite with Albite

Item Description

The famous Poudrette Quarry (Demix Quarry) at Mont Saint-Hilaire is without a doubt one of the top mineral localities in history. This renowned quarry has given collectors a diverse and unique mix of individual mineral species, numbering in the hundreds. This complex nepheline-syenite / pegmatite locality has produced some of the most distinctive minerals in the world. Along with rarities, the Poudrette Quarry has also yielded distinctive examples of more common and well-known mineral like Rhodochrosite, which have a reddish-brown hue (typical for the locality). This piece features several fine rhombic crystals measuring up to 1.0 cm across, associated with off-white Albite and minor black Aegirine, plus a tiny bit of Microcline. This is the only locality that I know of where these two minerals are found together.
From the collection of Dr. Robert ("Bob") Byers of the San Francisco area. Bob is a spinal surgeon, who started collecting minerals as a boy when his father took him on geology field trips. Bob acquired this specimen from Frank and Wendy Melanson in 2009.