Unakite

An altered granite of pink feldspar, pistachio-green epidote and clear quartz.

Unakite specimen — Photo: Tom Harpel from Seattle, Washington, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify unakite

Mottled pink and green.
Granite-like texture.
Hard; takes a good polish.

Often confused with

Epidote
Epidote is the green mineral alone.
Compare side by side
Granite
Granite is pink, gray and black — no green.
Compare side by side

Where it's found

Unaka Mountains, North Carolina–Tennessee
Virginia
Lake Michigan beaches

Uses

Tumbled stones, beads and cabochons.

Rock tumbling

Great for tumbling.

Did you know?

Glaciers carried unakite south from Canada, so it washes up on Great Lakes beaches.

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