Specifications
Beschreibung
Locality: Capillitas Mine, Andalgalá Department, Catamarca Province, Argentina
Description: A single high-grade chunk of banded Argentine rhodochrosite with one face sawn flat to open up the banding; the rest of the piece is left in its natural rough state, including a golden-brown botryoidal crust on top. The Capillitas mine sits in the Farallón Negro volcanic district, where an old copper-gold vein system is said to have been worked by the Inca and was later worked by Spanish miners. Its rhodochrosite did not form in open rock but as stalactites and crusts on the walls of voids inside the veins: manganese-rich hydrothermal fluids dripped and seeped through, adding layer after layer of manganese carbonate. Cut across, those stalactites show the concentric and wavy bands seen here, which is why Capillitas is the classic source of banded, rose-red rhodochrosite and why rhodochrosite is widely called Argentina's national stone (a bill to make it official is before Congress), known there as "Rosa del Inca".
The colour comes from manganese itself; the paler cream and pinkish-grey bands are richer in calcium or slightly altered, and the darker brown zones are manganese oxide staining. Rhodochrosite is soft (3.5–4) with perfect rhombohedral cleavage and is sensitive to heat and acid, so lapidaries work it slowly with plenty of water. In tradition it is called the Inca Rose, said in folklore to be the hardened blood of Inca royalty, and in modern crystal lore it is a stone of love and compassion linked to the heart chakra. These associations are traditional beliefs, not established properties.
Chemical Composition: MnCO₃ (manganese carbonate), calcite group; Mohs hardness 3.5–4
Grade: Precious
Appearance: Opaque, translucent at thin edges
Treatment: Natural, untreated
Quantity: 1pc
With this product, you will get the actual stone in the photograph.
The face is not polished; just cut.
Rough is rough. We do our best to grade and describe pieces, but ultimately, every stone differs.