Rhodochrosite is a manganese carbonate mineral with chemical composition MnCO3. In its (rare) pure form, it is typically a rose-red color, but impure specimens can be shades of pink to pale brown. It streaks white, and its Mohs hardness varies between 3.5 and 4. Its specific gravity is between 3.5 and 3.7. It crystallizes in the trigonal system, and cleaves with rhombohedral carbonate cleavage in three directions.

A boy uses remnants of ordnance as he prepares dough inside Abu Khaled's shop in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus April 28, 2015. Abu Khaled opened a shop for making “barley bread” using remnants of weapons including rockets, tank shells and other ordnance fired by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. (Photo by Amer Almohibany/Reuters)

Students carry a female trainee who has fallen into a stupor during high intensity training at Tianjiao Special Guard/Security Consultant camp on the outskirts of Beijing December 1, 2013. Former Chinese soldier Chen Yongqing has big ambitions for his bodyguard training school Tianjiao, which he says is China's first professional academy to train former soldiers and others as personal security guards. Chen charges 500,000 yuan ($82,400) a year for each protector as China's rich and famous look to bolster their safety and sense of importance. (Photo by Jason Lee/Reuters)

The sun rises over the north sea as The Couple by artist Sean Henery sits just of the coast at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, England, Wednesday October 8, 2014. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/AP Photo/PA Wire)

The carcass of a fattened pig, winner of the “holy pig” contest, is attached to a metal frame during a sacrificial ceremony in Sanxia district, in New Taipei City, Taiwan February 1, 2017. The winner of Taiwan's “holy pig” ceremony on Thursday defended the lunar new year tradition against critics who argue the fattened animals are raised under cruel conditions. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

In this Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015 photo, a Lebanese Shiite supporter of Hezbollah with a tattoo on his head that reads in Arabic, “Oh Ali”, beats his chest during the holy day of Ashoura, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon. A growing number of Shiite Muslims in Lebanon are getting tattoos with religious and other Shiite symbols since the civil war in neighboring Syria broke out five years ago, fanning sectarian flames across the region. (Photo by Hassan Ammar/AP Photo)

This year’s World Nomad Games, a celebration of nomadic heritage, took place in the Issyk-Kul province of Kyrgyzstan. Eleanor Moseman photographed female competitors who had travelled from all over central Asia and eastern Europe, and explored the difficulties and challenges they face as competitors. (Photo by Eleanor Moseman/The Guardian)

An Exmoor wild goat silhouetted in the sky over the Bristol Channel at the valley of the Rocks, North Devon, as the UK's heat wave continues on July 19, 2018. (Photo by Paul Silver/South West News Service)