Grossular

specimen number:
2072244

location:
Sierra de Cruces, Sierra Mojada, Coahuila, Mexico

description:
Pinkish red crystals of grossular scattered across the front of matrix. In good condition. Nice for this classic Mexican locality.

The Sierra de las Cruces mountain range, located near the town of Lake Jaco in the state of Coahuila, Mexico, is a premier locality for well-crystallized grossular garnet. Geologically, these specimens occur within a contact metamorphic zone where igneous intrusions interacted with Cretaceous-aged limestone, creating a skarn environment rich in calcium and aluminum. The mine is world-famous for its raspberry garnets, which exhibit a distinctive pink to deep reddish-purple hue, as well as honey-yellow and cinnamon-brown varieties often found as well-formed dodecahedral crystals. Historically, the area saw its most significant collecting and mining activity beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as the international mineral market recognized the unique color and quality of the specimens. While not a massive industrial quarrying operation for ore, the site has been worked intermittently by specimen miners for decades to supply the global collector market. The rugged, arid terrain of the Sierra de las Cruces continues to be a source of high-quality garnet specimens, maintaining its status as a classic Mexican mineral locality.

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