Rhodonite

$4,500.00

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Morro da Mina mine at Conselheiro Lafaiete in Minas Gerais, Brazil is an old, but long-lived manganese mine, opened in 1894, and produced 12 million tons of mixed oxide and silicate ore between 1902 and 1995. Rhodonite crystals "of gem quality" were reported in the Conselheiro Lafaiete area as early as 1971 but it was not until the late 1990s that a few miniature size specimens appeared on the market. Further development work was undertaken in 2005/2006 with the intention of extracting specimen quality Rhodonite specimens and in 2008 a Mineralogical Record article was published describing this occurrence and providing analytical data. This miniature specimen comprises a massive granular Rhodonite base on which a layer of extremely glassy intense cherry-red bladed triclinic Rhodonite crystals have formed. The crystals are very well defined and reach 9.5 mm in length, but do show some damage. Nevertheless, the colour and gemminess of the crystals is exceptional for this species and material from Morro da Mina mine is rarely seen available.