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Rosolite
Rosolite (also known as xalostocite or landerite) is a rose-pink to raspberry-red variety of grossular garnet, a calcium aluminum silicate of the broader garnet group with the formula Ca3Al2(SiO4)3. Its color, ranging from pale baby pink to a saturated candy-pink, comes from traces of manganese and iron replacing calcium and aluminum in the crystal lattice, and it typically forms sharp rhombic dodecahedral crystals embedded in white to grayish marble or, in some occurrences, in rhyolite. The name derives from its rose-like hue, and it has long been prized by collectors as one of the most attractive pink members of the ugrandite subgroup of garnets, alongside green tsavorite and honey-colored hessonite.
The classic and most historically important locality for rosolite is Xalostoc (also spelled Jalostoc), in the Ayala Municipality of Morelos, Mexico, where contact-metamorphosed limestone produced the gemmy pink crystals that gave the variety its early trade name. Fine rosolite specimens from Xalostoc show glassy, complete dodecahedra, often lustrous and partly transparent at the edges, sometimes in intergrown clusters. Another notable Mexican occurrence is Lake Jaco in Chihuahua, where marble-hosted deposits yield pink grossular alongside green and white garnet generations, and material has also been reported from Las Minas in Veracruz. Beyond Mexico, pink manganiferous grossular resembling rosolite is documented from skarn localities in the Alps and from parts of Africa, though the Mexican material remains the type-defining and most sought-after source.
Collectors value rosolite for the rarity of well-formed, gemmy pink garnet crystals on matrix, a combination not commonly seen in other grossular localities, which more often produce green, orange, or colorless crystals. Specimens are prized both as classic mineralogical rarities and, when clean enough, as cut gemstones, making rosolite a crossover favorite between hardcore systematic collectors and garnet gem enthusiasts. Because Xalostoc production has historically been limited and sporadic, well-crystallized rosolite specimens with strong color saturation and crystal definition command a premium and are considered a cornerstone piece for any serious grossular garnet or Mexican mineral suite.
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