Ricolite

Ash Creek Canyon Quarry

Ricolite Mining District

Grant County, New Mexico

Approximate Size:  12.0cm x 11.5cm x 3.0cm (HxWxD)

A beautiful, thick and heavy polished slab of Ricolite from the Ricolite Mining District in Grant County, New Mexico.  Ricoliteis an ornamental stone consisting of interbanded dark and light green Serpentine and white Talc.  Very slight yellow and black color variations are thought to be caused by iron and manganese oxides, respectively.  

This specimen comes from the only reported locality for Ricolitein the United States, according to MinDat.  The district, active in the 1940’s, is presumably no longer accessible for collecting since it is now within a wildlife refuge.