Rocksday

Monzonite

A coarse rock with roughly equal pink alkali feldspar and white plagioclase, and little quartz.

Monzonite specimen
Photo: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify monzonite

  • Mix of pink and white feldspar.
  • Some dark minerals, little quartz.
  • Coarse, even grains.

Often confused with

Where it's found

  • Monzoni, Italy
  • Bingham Canyon, Utah
  • Sierra Nevada, California

Uses

Building stone; host rock for copper deposits.

Rock tumbling

Great for tumbling.

Did you know?

Utah's Bingham Canyon copper mine is centered on a quartz monzonite intrusion.

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