Green vesuvianite crystal cluster from Canada with a mirror reflection.
Horizontal close view of an olive green vesuvianite aggregate.
Vertical portrait view of a translucent green vesuvianite specimen.
Vertical macro snapshot of prismatic translucent green vesuvianite crystals.

Vesuvianite

Vesuvianite – (Ca,Na)19(Al,Mg,Fe)13(SiO4)10(Si2O7)4(OH,F,O)10
Elements: Calcium, Sodium, Aluminum, Magnesium, Iron, Silicon, Oxygen, Hydrogen, Fluorine
Class: Silicates – Sorosilicates
Crystal System: Tetragonal
Hardness: 6.5
Quartz
Talc (1)Diamond (10)
Scratches glass. Harder than a steel knife.
Origin: Jeffrey Mine, Asbestos, Quebec – Canada
Did you know?

A massive green vesuvianite from California looks so much like jade that around 1900 Tiffany and Company mined it, named it californite, and shipped it all the way to China to be carved by jade workers there. The mineral is not jade at all, just a convincing stand-in.

You might also like

Blue botryoidal shattuckite specimen with fibrous margins on a dark background.
Shattuckite
Full green cuprosklodowskite specimen showing complete vertical reflection on black.
Cuprosklodowskite
Pale green cubic fluorite cluster from China with mirror reflection.
Fluorite & Quartz
Pale blue aquamarine crystal with silvery muscovite rosettes from Pakistan.
Aquamarine & Muscovite
Pale purple spirit quartz cluster from South Africa with mirror reflection.
Quartz (Cactus var. Amethyst)
SideriteZincite & Willemite