Episode 2: Peru: Pasto Bueno

The ancient Incans believed rhodochrosite was the blood of their kings and queens turned to stone. In this episode, Thomas returns to the Peruvian Andes to a mine he first visited forty years ago, Pasto Bueno, a high altitude mine at 15,000 feet. Though commercially known for its tungsten production, it also produces Peruvian rhodochrosite, quartz, and tungsten crystals. On this trip, you’ll encounter dangerous roads and battle altitude sickness as the crew climbs through the mountains to the mine. And even though they arrive oxygen-deprived and exhausted, they’ll climb 15 stories up through the mine’s narrow shafts to give you a view of a newly exposed pocket of quartz and tungsten crystals.

Minerals featured: rhodochrosite, quartz, tungsten.

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