Grossular Garnet

Sierra de Cruces is famous for its deep red grossular garnets, often found as sharp dodecahedral crystals on white calcite and quartz matrix. The deposit formed where intrusive rock interacted with limestone, creating a skarn that also produced minerals like vesuvianite and wollastonite. For years, specimens from this locality were mislabeled “Lake Jaco,” a name used by early collectors to keep the remote source discreet. The locality was later correctly identified as Sierra de Cruces.