A synthetic rhodochrosite

Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate (MnCO3) found in several hundred deposits around the world.⁠ ⁠

The species was described by Johann Friedrich Ludwig Hausmann in 1813, and the type deposit, i.e. the place where the first specimens used to describe the species were found, is the Cavnic mine in Romania.⁠ ⁠

This sample was synthesised by R&D XTALS, Inc. in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. It was produced in an autoclave by hydrothermal method in an alkaline aqueous solution superheated to ≈ 350 °C, i.e. at high pressure (>70 MPa).

The method uses seeds, which are fragments of natural rhodochrosite, on which synthetic growth can occur.⁠ ⁠

This sample has been recently added to the SGDF collection (Swiss Gemmological Data Foundation) with the reference SGDF-20646.⁠ ⁠

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