Pyroxmangite

specimen number:
2062633

location:
Treasury Tunnel, Idarado Mine, Ouray Co., Colorado, USA

description:
An open pocket 2.5 x 1.5 cm in size and lined with pink crystals of pyroxmangite. Minor quartz present. Very good example for the species from this old locality. The specimen comes with a previous label from the collection of Ray DeMark.

The Treasury Tunnel, located in the San Juan Mountains of Ouray County, Colorado, is a historic portal originally driven in 1896 that later became a crucial component of the massive Idarado Mine network. Geologically situated within Tertiary volcanic breccias, tuffs, and caldera-related fracture systems, the region was heavily mineralized by hydrothermal activity, producing rich veins of base and precious metals. Within these complex vein systems and hydrothermal mineral assemblages, collectors have occasionally encountered pyroxmangite, a manganese silicate mineral that forms attractive pink to red crystals in high-temperature metamorphic and hydrothermal environments.

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