Rhodochrosite with Pyrite

Unknown Owner

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This miniature Rhodochrosite is very much a classic from American Tunnel mine, part of the Sunnyside Mine Group in the Eureka Mining District, San Juan County, Colorado, USA. Extended during the early 1960s, the American Tunnel was driven onwards from the Gold King mine to provide deep drainage to the Sunnyside mine and became known in its own right as the American Tunnel mine. Mineralogically, these workings exposed very rich, pale pink coloured Rhodochrosite specimens. This lovely miniature specimen features an aggregate of the iconic soft-pink coloured platy to lenticular Rhodochrosite crystals with sparse golden Pyrite forming discrete clusters of smaller crystals within the Rhodochrosite matrix. The Rhodochrosite crystals are typically around 2 mm in size and coat large parts of the surfaces of the specimen which are in essence small vugs and cavities within more Rhodochrosite vein material. Ex David Hardman Collection, this specimen most likely dates back to the 1960s or 1970s.