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Elbaite

Silicate Minerals

Elbaite, a sodium, lithium, aluminium boro-silicate, is a mineral species belonging to the six-member ring cyclosilicate tourmaline group. It forms three series, with dravite, with fluor-liddicoatite and with schorl. As a gemstone it is a desirable member of the tourmaline group because of the variety and depth of its colours and the quality of its crystals. It was originally discovered on the island of Elba, Italy, in 1913, and forms in igneous and metamorphic rocks and veins, in granite pegmatites in association with lepidolite, microcline and spodumene. In this atlas it is the mineral species behind the gem tourmalines.

Facts
Classification
Crystal System
Trigonal (Rhombohedral) 1
Classification
Silicate Mineral 1
Use
Gemstone 1
Kind
Mineral 1
Chemical Formula
Na(Li1.5Al1.5)Al6Si6O18(BO3)3(OH)4 1
Hardness (Mohs)
7.5 1
Connections

Classified As

Entity-backed identity for the material classification this material already carries as an enum fact, pointing at the class subcategory of the same name. The enum fact itself stays on the entity unchanged.

Crystallizes In System

Entity-backed identity for the crystal system this mineral already carries as an enum fact, phase 3 bucket conversion (docs\design_entity_backed_browse_buckets_20260928.md, w-bucketconv-divmore2-0929). The original fact stays on the entry unchanged.

In Discipline

In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Elbaite (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Elbaite, lead paragraph
    is a mineral species belonging to the six-member ring cyclosilicate tourmaline group
  • Elbaite, article text
    As a gemstone, elbaite is a desirable member of the tourmaline group because of the variety and depth of its colours and quality of the crystals.
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