Rhodochrosite with Fluorite and Quartz

The Sunnyside Mine was one of the most prolific localities in the history of San Juan mining, producing over $150 Million in total metals over the course of its life. In addition to the tremendous amounts of Gold and other metals that came out of the Sunnyside, it provided collectors with some of the most distinctive and memorable display specimens from any locality in southwestern Colorado. This mine is probably best known for its amazing pink Rhodochrosite and green Fluorite associations.

This piece is a beautiful small cabinet display specimen featuring several, cotton candy pink rhombs of Rhodochrosite which have an interesting, almost skeletal appearance, which are associated with sharp, lustrous, gemmy, light green color Fluorite tetrahexahedra with cubic modifications. A bed of milky Quartz and granular sulfides make for a very pleasing matrix. This iconic association is amongst the most desirable of all specimens from the San Juan mountains, and they truly are few and far between these days. The quality of the Fluorite is superb, and the crystal habit is excessively rare in my experience with specimens from this mine. The pink Rhodochrosite and white Quartz round out the specimen perfectly, creating an ideal Sunnyside Rhodo / Fluorite combination.

Specimen# CO712B150