02/07/2023
Have you ever seen the Rhodochrosite mines before? ❤️
The Capillitas mining district is famous; in modern times, for its Rhodochrosite, and secondly, for its rich history of silver, gold & copper mining to name just a few of these abundant natural resources.
However, this was not always the case…
The Capillitas mining district was primarily used for mining the latter - silver, copper, and gold.
It was not until later in the 1900s that local Argentinian miners realised the value of the rich pinkish-red stone found alongside their metal ore mining ventures.
And thankfully they did!
For we would not have the exquisite specimens of Rhodochrosite that we know and love today.
And it would not have become Argentina’s National stone 🇦🇷
The second slide shows a wonderful example of the mapped out mines/veins of Rhodochrosite (the term vein and mine used interchangeably to describe both Rhodochrosite varieties & mining areas).
The last slide shows a view of the entry to the Santa Rita mine.
The Capillitas mining district is rich in both complex minerals & history.
We look forward to sharing more about this special part of the world with you all 🫶🏼
Image credit: Mindat.org
Map diagram: MÁRQUEZ-ZAVALÍA et al. (2020)
