By Rice Museum of Rocks and Minerals
Photo by Jeff Scovil
Alma Rose Rhodochrosite, Photo by Jeff ScovilRice Museum of Rocks and Minerals
Zoom in
Its cluster of bright red rhodochrosite crystals is a beacon visible across a room. Get closer, and orange calcite and spiky quartz come into view. Look closer still and discover pale blue fluorite cubes scattered over the quartz, along with dark sulfur minerals below.
What is it? The Alma Rose's primary mineral is rhodochrosite.
Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate ore mineral ranging in color from rosy pink to bright red.
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From China to South Africa to Argentina, rhodochrosite can be found all over the world. In the United States a famous locality is near Alma, Colorado. In fact, rhodochrosite is the state mineral! The Alma Rose hails from this locality.
Sweet Home Mine EntranceRice Museum of Rocks and Minerals
The Sweet Home Mine
Sweet Home is located near Alma, Colorado. Originally a silver mine, it was worked off and on from the 1870s through the 1960s but produced only modest amounts of ore. Early miners occasionally recovered small rhodochrosite crystals they traded for drinks at the bar in town.
Miner Pointing to Rainbow PocketRice Museum of Rocks and Minerals
Rainbow Pocket Discovery
On August 21, 1992, specimen hunters broke into a vug dubbed the Rainbow Pocket. This pocket changed the mine's fortunes forever: within an hour, owner and miner Bryan Lees reached in and pulled out an astonishing 15 cm rhombohedral crystal he later named the Alma King.
Rainbow Pocket Close-UpRice Museum of Rocks and Minerals
Hard Work and Stellar Rewards
Miners cleaned out the pocket over several weeks. It produced hundreds of specimens, including the Alma Rose.
Due to the geology of the area and rhodochrosite's fragile nature, before the Alma Rose could be sold, it first was cleaned, repaired, and the matrix rock removed.
The sale
The sale of the specimens saved the mine financially and inaugurated a decade of discovery at the Sweet Home. Richard and Helen bought more than one rhodochrosite specimen that day, but it was the Alma Rose that won their hearts and never left their collection!
