USA007 - Rhodochrosite with Quartz - Hedgehog Pocket, Main Stope Drift, Sweet Home Mine, Alma, Park Co., Colorado

Mined in 1996 at the now closed and reclaimed Sweet Home Mine, this is a fine specimen of pinkish-red, transparent to translucent rhombs of rhodochrosite. The gemmy crystals, which measure to 1.6 cm, are undamaged except for a single small crystal at the very edge of the specimen. The white needle quartz and minor tetrahedrite provides an aesthetic contrast. For more on the Hedgehog Pocket, see the Mineralogical Record, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Sweet Home Mine Issue), pgs. 78-91. 7.5 x 6.7 x 5.3 cm.