Rosarita

Rosarita is a unique material, which derives itsexceptionally rich, red color from the process of goldrefining. It is a unique by-productof the1960s and 1970s gold refining processes. Alaskan beach sand was smelted for its gold content and the slag by-product was Rosarita, which is essentially a gold-infused glass. The base material forRosarita is silica (which is quartz particles) mixed with gold at high temperatures.

Oldprocesses prior to 1960 used the old method of open crucible and fire(infused heat) to smelt the sand, leaving behind a glassy-like material in thecrucible, which is known as slag. This gold slag was used in the 1940sthrough 1970s for jewelry, carvings, flint napping, etc. Thismaterial known as Rosarita is some of the most exceptional colored goldslag ever produced. Most other slag were mostly red in color but not nearlyas vivid as the magnificent Rosarita.

Rosarita is no longer produced because of improved efficiency in gold refinement. Modern processes extract nearly all of the gold out of the sand, leaving an un-remarkable clear glass slag without the deep red color that makes Rosarita so beautiful.

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