Pyrope

Blood-red magnesium garnet formed deep in the mantle and carried up by volcanic eruptions.

Pyrope specimen — Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify pyrope

Fiery blood red, often as small rounded grains.
Hardness 7–7.5.
Commonly loose grains in volcanic or kimberlite ground.

Often confused with

Garnet
Almandine is darker, more purplish and heavier.
Compare side by side
Ruby
Ruby is harder and forms hexagonal crystals.
Compare side by side

Where it's found

Bohemia, Czech Republic
Garnet Ridge, Arizona
South Africa

Uses

Gemstones; diamond prospectors use it as an indicator mineral.

Rock tumbling

Great for tumbling.

Did you know?

On Arizona's Garnet Ridge, ants bring pyrope grains to the surface — 'anthill garnets'.

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