Dark Elbaite

This Dark Black Green Tourmaline 10mm on Clear Quartz with matrix dusting weighs 24.6ct 4.9g. It is a great specimen from Afghanistan. It features a rare Black Green Tourmaline Elbaite crystal on an interesting Quartz crystal. The dark Elbaite crystal is multi-coloured, with a thin lighter termination. It has a UV-reactive dusting from the host rock.

Elbaite is an igneous mineral that almost always forms in granite pegmatites. It is a complex lithium-rich borosilicate mineral. Elbaite can be any colour of the rainbow, and crystals can be multi-coloured. Blue, Green and Pink Tourmalines are the more well-known members of the Elbaite mineral family. Black Elbaite is rare. Elbaite usually forms as heavily-striated elongated rods or prismatic crystals. Blue and Green Elbaite crystals are often pleochroic, which means that the crystal appears darker in colour when viewed along its vertical axis, compared to viewing along its horizontal axis. 

Location: Afghanistan, Brazil, Madagascar, Namibia, Pakistan, USA