Rhodochrosite with Quartz & Hübnerite
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Rhodochrosite with Quartz and Hübnerite from the Alma Mine, Park County, Colorado, U.S.A., measuring 93 × 65 × 32 mm and weighing 250 grams. An international classic in this sale, and one with a notable provenance.
Rhodochrosite is manganese carbonate, MnCO3, named from the Greek for "rose-coloured", and its best crystals are some of the most admired of all carbonates. Hübnerite is the manganese-rich member of the wolframite group, MnWO4, typically forming reddish-brown to black bladed crystals, and in the Alma district it occurs with Rhodochrosite and Quartz in hydrothermal veins in the Mosquito Range. That three-way association of pink carbonate, dark tungstate and clear silica is one of the signature combinations of the district.
The Alma district is among the most famous Rhodochrosite localities in the world, and Rhodochrosite was named Colorado's state mineral in 2002. This specimen has a provenance to match, with the Museum of Victoria, now Museums Victoria, and the David Vince Collection both recorded in its history, and it is a fine way to represent a classic North American district.