Rhodochrosite with Pyrite on Sphalerite

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A Japanese classic dating to at least the 1980s, if not earlier. We often see fine pink Rhodochrosite specimens from Oppu mine, with their characteristic bubbly botryoidal surface, but it is not so often that we see the association with Pyrite and Sphalerite. This fine display specimen was first sold through Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd in London during (based on their address) the 1980s or earliest years of the 1990s, acquired by Shirley Adrian and then passing to Nick Hawes in 2018. It consists of a 3 cm wide vein of dark brown Sphalerite, containing minor Galena and Chalcopyrite. Upon this an extensive 2 mm thick later of botryoidal Rhodochrosite is carpeted, zoned from almost white internally, through pink, to a deep pink-brown to almost burgundy colour at the surface. A profusion of tiny, millimetre-scale, Pyrite cubes are liberally scattered across the surface, adding a slightly more unusual twist. A very nice specimen of a Japanese classic.