Stilbite

A zeolite that forms peach-colored, bow-tie shaped sheaves of crystals in volcanic cavities.

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

How to identify stilbite

Bow-tie or wheat-sheaf crystal bundles.
Peach to white with a pearly sheen.
Soft and light.

Often confused with

Heulandite
Heulandite forms coffin-shaped single crystals, not sheaves.
Compare side by side

Where it's found

Pune, India
Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia
Iceland

Uses

Collector specimens; zeolites are used as filters and water softeners.

Rock tumbling

Not suitable for tumbling.

Did you know?

Stilbite is the provincial mineral of Nova Scotia.

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