Rocksday

Amazonite

A blue-green variety of microcline feldspar, often with white streaks and blocky cleavage.

Amazonite specimen
Photo: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.0 br, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify amazonite

  • Turquoise to mint green with fine white streaks or grid patterns.
  • Flat, shiny cleavage faces at right angles.
  • Hardness about 6 — scratches glass slightly.

Often confused with

Where it's found

  • Pikes Peak, Colorado
  • Ilmen Mountains, Russia
  • Madagascar
  • Brazil

Uses

Beads, cabochons and tumbled stones.

Rock tumbling

Great for tumbling.

Did you know?

Blue-green amazonite growing beside smoky quartz is a classic Colorado pairing from Pikes Peak.

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