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Uvarovite - November 2014 (Read 1599 times)

Scott LaBorde

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Uvarovite - November 2014
Nov 4^th, 2014 at 11:00am

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Sorry about the late MOTM.� � The random letter was "U" for this month.� Green, my favorite color, makes uvarovite one of my favorite minerals!

Uvarovite is a chromium-bearing garnet group species with the formula: Ca3Cr2(SiO4)3. It was discovered in 1832 by Germain Henri Hess who named it after Count Sergei Semenovitch Uvarov (1765�1855), a Russian statesman and amateur mineral collector.

Uvarovite is one of the rarest of the garnet group minerals, and is the only consistently green garnet species, with an emerald-green color. It occurs as well-formed fine-sized crystals.

It is found associated with chromium ores in Spain, Russia, and Quebec in Canada. It also occurs in Finland, Norway, and South Africa.

Category	Nesosilicate
Formula (repeating unit)	Ca3Cr2Si3O12
Strunz classification	09.AD.25
Crystal symmetry	Isometric hexoctahedral H-M symbol (4/m32/m) Space group: I a3d
Unit cell	a = 11.99 �; Z=8
Color	Green, emerald-green, green-black
Crystal habit	Euhedral crystals, granular, massive
Crystal system	Cubic
Fracture	Uneven, conchoidal
Mohs scale hardness	6.5-7.5
Luster	Vitreous
Streak	White
Diaphaneity	Transparent, translucent
Specific gravity	3.77 - 3.81
Optical properties	Isotropic
Refractive index	n = 1.865
Other characteristics	Fluorescent red in both short and long UV