Rhodochrosite

This specimen features a sharp, fairly hoppered soft pink rhombohedron of rhodochrosite from the classic Emma Mine, Butte, Montana.

The Emma Mine is one of the historic American localities for rhodochrosite, producing fine crystals during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Although later discoveries, most notably the Sunnyside Mine and the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado, came to dominate North American rhodochrosite collecting, material from Butte remains an important part of the species’ early collecting history.

Specimens such as this represent the classic “old-time” American rhodochrosite aesthetic. Any well-rounded rhodochrosite collection, or broader suite of American mineral classics, is incomplete without an example from Butte, Montana.