Amber

Description

Amber has a hardness of 2 – 2½, and while there are a few localities listed on Mindat for Amber within Colorado, “the Baltic region is home to the largest known deposit of amber,” according to Wikipedia.

Also according to Wikipedia, “called Baltic amber or succinite. It was produced sometime during the Eocene epoch, but exactly when is controversial. It has been estimated that these forests created more than 100,000 tons of amber. Today, more than 90% of the world’s amber comes from Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia. It is a major source of income for the region; the local Kaliningrad Amber Combine extracted 250 tonnes of it in 2014 and 400 tonnes in 2015…. Because Baltic amber contains from 3 to 8% succinic acid, it is also termed succinite.”

Amber is more exciting for fossil collectors and rock-lovers in general than element collectors, as WebMineral shows an assay including only Oxygen, Hydrogen, and Carbon, at 9%, 11%, and 80%, respectively. They’re cool, though, still, all the same!

While these are a bit tumbled, naturally, and unlike many of the rocks in Colorado, be sure to keep your eyes out for a cool rock like these and you’ll possibly stumble on to a new Amber discovery!