Rhodochrosite with Quartz - Sunnyside Mine

An old-stock piece of Colorado mining history! This lovely specimen from the Sunnyside Mine features milky white Quartz crystals with pink Rhodochrosite crystals. The base layer is packed with sharply terminated Quartz crystals, with a secondary mineralization of rhombohedral Rhodochrosite crystals on top. The light-pink Rhodo crystals are coated with a third generation of crystal growth in a sparkly layer of drusy Quartz.

The Sunnyside Mine, located in the Eureka Mining District of San Juan County opened in the late 1880's for the mining of Gold, Silver, Lead, Zinc and Manganese. Famous for it's excellent representation of Rhodochrosite crystals, Colorado is known for this special Manganese Carbonate crystal and it's even our state mineral!

This specimen was collected sometime between 1960 and 1970 making it a great collector's piece. While the Sunnyside Mine was productive for many years, a mudslide closed production in 1978. Intermittent clean-up efforts and production continued until 1991 when the mine was permanently closed.