Nepheline

A silica-poor 'feldspathoid' found in rocks that formed without enough silica for quartz.

Nepheline specimen — Photo: Andrew Silver, USGS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify nepheline

Gray, greasy-looking grains.
Never occurs with quartz.
Hardness about 6, poor cleavage.

Often confused with

Quartz
Quartz is glassier and slightly harder.
Compare side by side
Orthoclase
Feldspar has good cleavage faces.
Compare side by side

Where it's found

Bancroft, Ontario
Kola Peninsula, Russia
Norway

Uses

Glass and ceramics (as nepheline syenite).

Rock tumbling

Can be tumbled with care.

Did you know?

Its name means 'cloud' in Greek — it turns cloudy in strong acid.

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