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Beryl
 
 
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The mineral
Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through Geology processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties....
 beryl is a beryllium
Beryllium

Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4.A Bivalent element, beryllium is found naturally only combined with other elements in minerals....
 aluminium
Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....
 cyclosilicate
Silicate minerals

The silicate minerals make up the largest and most important class of rock-forming minerals, comprising approximately 90 percent of the crust of the Earth....
 with the chemical formula
Chemical formula

A chemical formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound, and how the relationship between those atoms changes in chemical reactions....
 Be3Al2(SiO3)6. The hexagonal crystal
Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions....
s of beryl may be very small or range to several meters in size. Terminated crystals are relatively rare. Beryl exhibits conchoidal fracture
Conchoidal fracture

Conchoidal fracture describes the way that brittle materials break when they do not follow any natural cleavage . Materials that break in this way include flint and other fine-crystalliteed minerals, as well as most amorphous solids, such as obsidian and other types of glass....
, has a hardness
Mohs scale of mineral hardness

Not to be confused with Siemens_#Mho, a unit of electric conductance.The Mohs scale of mineral hardness characterizes the scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of a harder material to scratch a softer material....
 of 7.5–8, and a specific gravity
Specific gravity

Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the density of a given solid or liquid substance to the density of water at a specific temperature and pressure, typically at 4?C and , making it a dimensionless quantity ....
 of 2.63–2.80. It has a vitreous luster and can be transparent or translucent. Its cleavage is poor basal and its habit is dihexagonal bipyramidal.






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Encyclopedia


The mineral
Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through Geology processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties....
 beryl is a beryllium
Beryllium

Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4.A Bivalent element, beryllium is found naturally only combined with other elements in minerals....
 aluminium
Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....
 cyclosilicate
Silicate minerals

The silicate minerals make up the largest and most important class of rock-forming minerals, comprising approximately 90 percent of the crust of the Earth....
 with the chemical formula
Chemical formula

A chemical formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound, and how the relationship between those atoms changes in chemical reactions....
 Be3Al2(SiO3)6. The hexagonal crystal
Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions....
s of beryl may be very small or range to several meters in size. Terminated crystals are relatively rare. Beryl exhibits conchoidal fracture
Conchoidal fracture

Conchoidal fracture describes the way that brittle materials break when they do not follow any natural cleavage . Materials that break in this way include flint and other fine-crystalliteed minerals, as well as most amorphous solids, such as obsidian and other types of glass....
, has a hardness
Mohs scale of mineral hardness

Not to be confused with Siemens_#Mho, a unit of electric conductance.The Mohs scale of mineral hardness characterizes the scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of a harder material to scratch a softer material....
 of 7.5–8, and a specific gravity
Specific gravity

Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the density of a given solid or liquid substance to the density of water at a specific temperature and pressure, typically at 4?C and , making it a dimensionless quantity ....
 of 2.63–2.80. It has a vitreous luster and can be transparent or translucent. Its cleavage is poor basal and its habit is dihexagonal bipyramidal. Pure beryl is colorless, but it is frequently tinted by impurities; possible colors are green, blue, yellow, red, and white. The name comes from the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 beryllos which referred to a precious blue-green color-of-sea-water stone. The term was later adopted for the mineral beryl more exclusively.

Varieties

Varieties of beryl have been considered gemstone
Gemstone

A gemstone or gem, also called a precious or semi-precious stone, is a piece of attractive mineral, which — when cut and polished — is used to make jewellery or other adornments....
s since prehistoric times.

Colorless beryl is called goshenite, pink beryl is morganite
Morganite

Morganite, also known as "Pink Beryl," "Rose Beryl," "Pink Emerald," and "Cesian Beryl," is a rare light pink to rose-colored Gemstone-quality variety of the mineral beryl , which is better known for its green variety and its blue variety ....
, red beryl is bixbite
Bixbite

Red beryl is a red variety of beryl, Be326. It was first described in 1904 for an occurrence, its Type locality , at Maynard's Claim , Thomas Range, Juab County, Utah, Utah, USA....
 or "red emerald" or "scarlet emerald," clear bright yellow beryl is "golden beryl
Golden beryl

Golden beryl is one of the many hues of the "gemstone" mineral beryl. It can range in colors from pale yellow to a brilliant gold. Unlike emerald, golden beryl has very few flaws....
," yellow-green beryl is heliodor, green beryl is emerald
Emerald

Emeralds are a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a Hardness of 7.5 - 8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness....
, blue beryl is aquamarine
Aquamarine

Aquamarine is a gemstone-quality transparent variety of beryl, having a delicate blue or turquoise color, suggestive of the tint of seawater. It is closely related to the gem emerald....
, and deep blue beryl is maxixe. Red beryl is extremely rare. Usually gems are under a carat, are only used in very special jewelry. It is mined primarily in Utah
Utah

The State of Utah is a western United States U.S. state of the United States. It was the List of U.S. states by date of statehood admitted to the United States on January 4, 1896....
. Blue beryl (aquamarine) will not fade in color when exposed to sunlight. Maxixe is a deep blue stone that fades to white when exposed to sunlight or is subjected to heat treatment, though the color returns with irradiation. Other, unnamed shades such as honey yellow are also known.

Deposits

Beryl of various colors is found most commonly in granitic
Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of Intrusion , felsic, igneous rock rock . Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as Porphyry ....
 pegmatite
Pegmatite

Pegmatite is a very coarse-grained igneous rock that has a grain size of 20 mm or more; such rocks are referred to as pegmatitic.Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar and mica; in essence a "granite"....
s, but also occurs in mica
Mica

The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic with a tendency towards pseudo-hexagonal crystals and are similar in chemical composition....
 schist
Schist

The schists form a group of Erins metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, Chlorite group, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others....
s in the Ural Mountains, and limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 in Colombia
Colombia

Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country in north-western South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the north west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. Beryl is often associated with tin
Tin

Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. Tin is obtained chiefly from the mineral cassiterite, where it occurs as an oxide, SnO2....
 and tungsten
Tungsten

Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element that has the symbol W and atomic number 74.A steel-gray metal, tungsten is found in several ores, including wolframite and scheelite....
 ore bodies. Beryl is found in Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 in Norway
Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
, Austria
Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, and Ireland
Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
, as well as Brazil
Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
, Colombia
Colombia

Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country in north-western South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the north west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Madagascar
Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
 (especially morganite), Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
, South Africa
South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, and Zambia
Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
. U.S. beryl locations are in California
California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, Colorado
Colorado

The State of Colorado is a U.S. state located in the Mountain States of the United States of America. Colorado may also be considered to be a part of the Western United States and Southwestern United States regions of the United States....
, Idaho
Idaho

The State of Idaho is a U.S. state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. The state's largest city and Capital is Boise, Idaho....
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire

New Hampshire is a U.S. state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States United States of America. The state was named after the southern English Counties of England of Hampshire....
, North Carolina
North Carolina

North Carolina is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north....
, South Dakota
South Dakota

South Dakota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States of the United States of America. It is named after the Lakota people and Sioux Sioux Native Americans in the United States tribes....
, and Utah
Utah

The State of Utah is a western United States U.S. state of the United States. It was the List of U.S. states by date of statehood admitted to the United States on January 4, 1896....
.

The most famous source of emeralds in the world is at Muzo and Chivor, Boyacá
Boyacá Department

Boyac? is one of the 32 Departments of Colombia of Colombia, and the remnant of one of the original nine states of the "United States of Colombia"....
, Colombia, where they make a unique appearance in limestone. Emerald are also found in the Transvaal
Transvaal

File:Flag of Transvaal.svgFile:Transvaal map.pngFile:Spelterini Transvaal.jpgThe Transvaal is the name of an area of northern South Africa....
, South Africa; Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais

Minas Gerais was so named for its great riches in the mining industry. It is one of the 26 states of Brazil of Brazil, the second most populous and fourth largest by area in the federation....
, Brazil; Zambia
Zambia

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....
, and near Mursinka in the Urals in Russia. In the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, emeralds are found in North Carolina.

New England
New England

New England is a region of the United States located in the northeastern corner of the country, bounded by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and New York State, and consisting of the modern U.S....
's pegmatites have produced some of the largest beryls found, including one massive crystal with dimensions 5.5 m by 1.2 m (18 ft by 4 ft) with a mass of around 18 metric tons
Tonne

A tonne or metric ton , also referred to as a metric tonne, is a measurement of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms, or 2204.6226 pounds....
; it is New Hampshire's state mineral. As of 1999, the largest known crystal of any mineral in the world is a crystal of beryl from Madagascar, 18 metres long and 3.5 metres in diameter.

Applications

Massive beryl is a primary ore
Ore

An ore is a type of Rock that contains minerals such as gemstones and metals that can be extracted through mining and refined for use. Samples of ore in the form of exceptionally beautiful crystals, exotic layering visible when sectioned or polished or metallic presentations such as large nuggets or crystalline formations of metals suc...
 of the metal beryllium
Beryllium

Beryllium is a chemical element with the symbol Be and atomic number 4.A Bivalent element, beryllium is found naturally only combined with other elements in minerals....
.

See also


  • List of minerals
    List of minerals

    This is a List of minerals for which there are Wikipedia articles. Mineral variety names and mineraloids are to be listed after the valid minerals for each letter....