Rhodochrosite
rhodochrosite
Manganese carbonate, banded pink and white where it grew as stalactites in old Inca silver workings at Capillitas in Argentina, and blood-red and transparent at Colorado's Sweet Home Mine. It is Argentina's national gemstone and Colorado's state mineral. People carry it for self-love, love and grief. Tradition attaches it to the element fire, the heart, solar-plexus chakra, Venus.
Seen · you don't have this one yet
This one does not go in water. It dissolves.
Mineral facts
Hardness
3.5-4 Mohs
Formula
MnCO3
Family
carbonate
Where it comes from
Argentina (Capillitas, Catamarca), USA (Sweet Home Mine, Colorado), Peru, South Africa (N'Chwaning), China, Romania
What it is
Manganese carbonate, banded pink and white where it grew as stalactites in old Inca silver workings at Capillitas in Argentina, and blood-red and transparent at Colorado's Sweet Home Mine. It is Argentina's national gemstone and Colorado's state mineral. Soft, cleavable and unhappy in water.
What it is confused with
rhodonite, pink-calcite, banded-onyx, dyed-howlite, mangano-calcite
Banded pink and white in concentric or wavy stripes, the Argentine stalactitic material, sliced across, shows perfect pink-and-white bullseye rings. Crystalline specimens are transparent rose-red rhombohedra with a bright vitreous luster. Perfect rhombohedral cleavage in three directions means broken faces are flat parallelograms that flash like mirrors. Soft: a copper coin marks it. Effervesces in acid.
How to tell
Fizzes in vinegar (carbonate) and is soft at 3.5, 4, rhodonite does neither. Pink-and-white concentric banding plus rhombohedral cleavage flashes confirm it. Mangano calcite is softer still (3) and usually paler and less strongly banded.
Untreated, though fractured slabs are sometimes resin-filled. Dyed pink howlite and dyed marble are sold as banded rhodochrosite.
What it means for you
The Moon is at 1° Scorpio today. Rhodochrosite is a carbonate, 3.5-4 on the Mohs scale, and it is the stone traditionally carried when the problem is proximity rather than intensity.
You know what this one would do for you. You just don't have it.
Rhodochrosite for every sign
Aries
Slice one across and the rings show how slowly it happened.
The banded pink material grew as stalactites in old Inca silver workings at Capillitas in Argentina, one ring at a time. It is Mohs 3.5, cleaves in three directions, and dulls in water. Slice one across and the rings show how slowly it happened.
Taurus
The rings are the record of how long it took.
Argentina's national gemstone, grown as stalactites in old Inca silver workings at Capillitas, one ring at a time. It is Mohs 3.5 with perfect cleavage in three directions, so it splits cleanly if dropped and dulls if soaked. The rings are the record of how long it took.
Gemini
It grew as stalactites in abandoned Inca silver workings.
It grew as stalactites in abandoned Inca silver workings at Capillitas in Argentina, so a cross-slice gives you perfect pink and white bullseyes. Colorado's Sweet Home Mine produced transparent red crystals instead. It is a carbonate, so vinegar fizzes on it and dulls the polish for good.
Cancer
One ring for each pass of water through the tunnel.
Slice the Argentine stalactites across and you get concentric pink and white rings, one for each pass of mineral-bearing water through an old Inca silver working. It is a carbonate at 3.5, so it fizzes in vinegar and splits along three cleavages if dropped. Dry cloth only.
Leo
Pink stalactites grown inside abandoned Inca silver workings.
The banded pink material grew as stalactites inside abandoned Inca silver workings at Capillitas, so a cross-section gives perfect concentric bullseyes. It is a soft carbonate with three perfect cleavages: acid dissolves it, water dulls the polish, and one drop splits it into parallelograms.
Virgo
It grew as stalactites in abandoned Inca silver workings.
Capillitas in Catamarca, where it grew as stalactites inside silver workings the Inca had already abandoned. Slice one across and you get the pink and white bullseye. Manganese carbonate at 3.5 with three perfect cleavages, so it splits cleanly if dropped and the polish dulls in water.
Libra
Sliced across the growth, it gives a perfect bullseye.
Grown as stalactites in old silver workings at Capillitas in Argentina, and sliced across the growth they give perfect pink and white bullseyes. Colorado's Sweet Home Mine produces transparent blood-red crystals of the same manganese carbonate instead. Soft, cleavable in three directions, unhappy in water.
Scorpio
It splits clean the first time you drop it.
Manganese carbonate, banded pink and white where it grew as stalactites in old Inca silver workings at Capillitas, and blood-red and transparent at the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado. It cleaves perfectly in three directions. Water dulls it, acid dissolves it, salt etches the polish off.
Sagittarius
Argentina's national gemstone and Colorado's state mineral, which is unusual reach.
Banded pink and white where it grew as stalactites in old Inca silver workings at Capillitas in Catamarca, and blood-red and transparent at the Sweet Home Mine in Colorado. Argentina's national gemstone and Colorado's state mineral, which is unusual reach. Soft, cleavable and unhappy in water.
Capricorn
Grew as stalactites in abandoned Inca silver workings.
Manganese carbonate that grew as stalactites in abandoned Inca silver workings at Capillitas, so a slice across one gives perfect pink and white bullseyes. Argentina's national gemstone and Colorado's state mineral. Mohs 4, three perfect cleavages, and water dulls the polish, so it is softer than its reputation.
Aquarius
The bullseyes are stalactite cross-sections, grown drip by drip.
The pink and white bullseyes are stalactite cross-sections, grown drip by drip in abandoned Inca silver workings at Capillitas. It is a carbonate, so acid dissolves it and water dulls the polish, and three perfect cleavages mean it splits cleanly if dropped. Argentina's national gemstone.
Pisces
Grown drip by drip in abandoned silver workings.
Grown drip by drip as stalactites in abandoned Inca silver workings at Capillitas, then sliced across to give those pink and white bullseyes. It is a soft carbonate, so acid dissolves it and even water dulls the polish. Argentina calls it Inca Rose and made it a national gemstone.
Correspondences
What tradition attaches to this stone. Folklore, not chemistry.
Element
fire
Planet
Venus
Chakra
heart, solar-plexus
Signs
scorpio, leo, cancer
What tradition says
In crystal lore, rhodochrosite is the stone of self-love and of recovering warmth toward oneself; the Inca Rose name derives from the Argentine deposits worked in pre-Columbian times.
Care
- Do not put this one in water. It dissolves or spalls. Dust it dry.
- Keep it out of direct sun. The colour goes and does not come back.
- Salt scratches it. Do not bury it in salt.
- A soft carbonate: acids dissolve it, water dulls the polish, salt etches it, and the perfect cleavage means it splits cleanly if dropped. Colour can fade in strong light. Dry cloth only.
Common questions
What does rhodochrosite mean?
Rhodochrosite is carried for self-love, love and grief. Manganese carbonate, banded pink and white where it grew as stalactites in old Inca silver workings at Capillitas in Argentina, and blood-red and transparent at Colorado's Sweet Home Mine.. Tradition links it to the heart, solar-plexus chakra.
Is rhodochrosite real or fake?
Rhodochrosite is not faked often, but it is still worth checking. Fizzes in vinegar (carbonate) and is soft at 3. 5, 4, rhodonite does neither.. Untreated, though fractured slabs are sometimes resin-filled.
Can rhodochrosite go in water?
No. Rhodochrosite dissolves or spalls in water. Dust it dry instead of soaking it, and keep it out of salt.
Uncommon · rose pink, raspberry red, pink with white banding, pale peach
Where this leads
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FOR ENTERTAINMENT AND REFLECTION. NOT MEDICAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL, FINANCIAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. How this works