Rhodochrosite with Quartz

Botryoidal mounds of pale, bubble gum pink Rhodochrosite intermixed with milky Quartz crystals, many of which are double terminated.  This most attractive miniature is from the Madan Ore Field in the Rhodope Mountains of Bulgaria, a region well known for its superb minerals which have been mined since Thracian rule between the 5th to 4th Centuries BC.  Micro crystals of Rhodochrosite cluster to form the botryoidal mounds of typically 1 cm diameter, but can attain 2 cm.  A pretty and delicately coloured example of Rhodochrosite from the Madan mining district.