Rhodochrosite & Quartz - Uchucchacua Mine, Peru

Size: 5.8 x 3.8 x 3.8cm 

Weight: 84g

Here is an unusual Rhodochrosite with Quartz specimen from Peru. What makes it unique is how lustrous the rhodochrosite crystals are, and how they are intermixed with small, glassy, terminated quartz crystals. It's so shiny that it was hard to photograph, but in person it is much easier to make out the red, rhombohedral rhodo and the quartz nestled between the crystals. The rhombohedral crystal habit is unusual for the Uchucchucua Mine as most specimens have scalenohedral shapes. The color is also quite exceptional for this locality. 

The specimen comes with one of our experimental Greenstone Mineral Bases.  The idea was to make the specimen look like fire in a modern fire pit.