Rhodochrosite with Fluorite (Mined: 1977)

Item Description

This hefty specimen was mined by Dave Bergman in 1977 near the front area of the Sweet Home Mine. Dave kept this piece as a memento from the beginning of the mining operation, and as a token of good luck that they would find more specimens. This is not a well-crystallized display piece, but its significance lies in the fact that it features beautiful reddish-pink Rhodochrosite and strong green colored Fluorite. Both the Rhodo and the Fluorite are completely cleaved, with no real crystal faces, but the striking color combination is really eye-catching, and I could only imagine what the piece would look like had the crystals been complete. The matrix is a combination of various sulfides and Quartz. A really interesting reference piece featuring a color of Fluorite that is rarely seen from the Sweet Home. 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".