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Schorl and lithium-rich tourmalines are usually found in granite and granite pegmatite. Magnesium-rich tourmalines, dravites, are generally restricted to schists and marble. Tourmaline is a durable mineral and can be found in minor amounts as grains in sandstone and conglomerate, and is part of the ZTR index for highly weathered sediments. [24]
Rubellite is the red or pink variety of tourmaline and is a member of elbaite. Rubellite is also the rarest gem in its family. [2] It is occasionally mistaken for ruby. [3] These gems typically contain inclusions. [4] Notable countries where rubellite can be mined include Afghanistan, Brazil, Madagascar, Myanmar, Nigeria, Russia, and the United ...
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. Originally discovered on the island of Elba , Italy in 1913, it has since been found in many parts of the world.
Tourmalines can be subgrouped by the occupancy of the X site, and from there further subdivided by the chemistry of the W site. The Y and Z sites can accommodate a variety of cations, especially various transition metals; this variability in structural transition metal content gives the tourmaline group greater variability in colour.
Individual crystals in pegmatites can be enormous in size. It is likely that the largest crystals ever found were feldspar crystals in pegmatites from Karelia with masses of thousands of tons. Quartz crystals with masses measured in thousands of pounds [5] and micas over 10 meters (33 ft) across and 4 meters (13 ft) thick have been found. [8]
Large mineral deposits are found in the vicinity of the batholith and these have been mined for thousands of years. The area has been famous for its tin since about 2000 BC. [33] The minerals formed when fluids escaped along fractures in the hot granite as it cooled and are typically found in veins or washed into streams to form alluvium. [5]
The first crystals were found in a pegmatite found near Rumford, Maine, US, and in Minas Gerais, Brazil. [47] The crystals found are more transparent and euhedral, due to the impurities of phosphate and aluminium that formed crystalline rose quartz, unlike the iron and microscopic dumortierite fibers that formed rose quartz.
The Earth's crust is one "reservoir" for measurements of abundance. A reservoir is any large body to be studied as unit, like the ocean, atmosphere, mantle or crust. Different reservoirs may have different relative amounts of each element due to different chemical or mechanical processes involved in the creation of the reservoir. [1]: 18