Rhodochrosite

RhodochrositeThe various Manganese deposits in South Africa have provided a tremendous amount of Rhodochrosite with a beautiful red color, but gems are becoming very difficult to obtain these days. With that said, this Rectangle cut gem is one of the better stones of Rhodo from South Africa that I have had to offer in a while. The stone has very, very slight inclusions, but the color is a beautiful red orange with unusual "banding" that can be seen on one side.

This Parisite gemstone has some very slight inclusions

This miniature sized specimen features a few sharp

sharpness and a slight amount of iridescent Bornite coating a few of the Tetrahedrite faces

rich blue color cubic crystals measuring up to 1

The Viloco Mine (sometimes called Araca) for many years has stood as one of the top Cassiterite localities in the world

Sapphires are some of the most beautiful

The first is the sentimental value

Specimen# CO712B55

As you can see from the backlit photo

which is a type of pseudomorphism whereby preexisting crystals of Anhydrite were coated and later dissolved by the more stable Prehnite

This is definitely in the rare category

radiating aggregates of Vauxite associated with micro fibrous strands of colorless Metavauxite