Brown Tourmaline, scientifically known as Dravite, is a magnesium-rich member of the tourmaline group. It is best identified by its vertically striated, elongated prismatic crystals and characteristic rounded triangular cross-section.
Is this brown tourmaline?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch brown tourmaline with a known reference. Brown Tourmaline sits at Mohs 7-7.5, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Brown Tourmaline leaves a white streak.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Brown Tourmaline typically shows a vitreous luster.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: brown, dark brown, yellowish-brown.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: trigonal. Typical habit: prismatic crystals with rounded triangular cross-sections, striated prism faces.
Often confused with
Brown Tourmaline vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
Often found alongside brown tourmaline
Minerals reported to co-occur with brown tourmaline. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- NaMg₃Al₆(BO₃)₃Si₆O₁₈(OH)₄
- Mohs hardness
- 7-7.5
- Density
- 3.06 g/cm³
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Transparency
- Translucent
- Crystal system
- Trigonal
- Crystal habit
- Prismatic Crystals with Rounded Triangular Cross-sections, Striated Prism Faces
- Cleavage
- Indistinct
- Rarity
- Common
- Uses
- Collector, Lapidary
- Host rock
- Metamorphic Rocks Like Schists and Marbles, Also in Pegmatites
- Typical price
- $10-100 per specimen
Where rockhounds find brown tourmaline
1 mapped spotsClassic worldwide localities
- Yinnietharra, Australia
- Madhya Pradesh, India
- Kings Mountain, USA
- Okanagan, Canada
- Tanzania
Field-hunting tip
Look in metamorphic rocks like schists and marbles, also in pegmatites country, the host setting where brown tourmaline typically forms. If you start seeing quartz, microcline, muscovite in float, you are in the right ground. Field specimens usually show a prismatic crystals with rounded triangular cross-sections, striated prism faces habit, so train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop. In the U.S., the densest reported localities are in New York. Start trip planning there.
More brown tourmaline photos
Common questions
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Find brown tourmaline on the map
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