Elbaite is the lithium-bearing member of the tourmaline group, famous for its intense, vivid colors and complex multi-colored crystals. It is highly prized by collectors for its long, striatied prismatic crystals that often display a color-zoned 'watermelon' pattern.
Is this elbaite?
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 elbaite with a known reference. Elbaite sits at Mohs 7, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Streak: white.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Luster: vitreous to resinous.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: green, pink, blue, red, yellow, colorless, multicolored, white.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: trigonal. Typical habit: prismatic, striated.
Often confused with
Elbaite vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
Often found alongside elbaite
Minerals reported to co-occur with elbaite. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Na(Li₁₋₁.₅Al₁.₅₋₁)Al₆(Si₆O₁₈)(BO₃)₃(OH)₃(OH)
- Mohs hardness
- 7
- Density
- 2.90-3.10 g/cm³
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Vitreous to resinous
- Transparency
- Transparent to translucent
- Crystal system
- Trigonal
- Crystal habit
- Prismatic, striated
- Cleavage
- {1120}, {1011}, very poor
- Fluorescence
- Weak blue white to blue under SW UV
- Rarity
- Common
- Uses
- Gemstone, Collector
- Host rock
- In granites, granite pegmatites, and some metamorphic rocks; in high-temperature hydrothermal veins; detrital in sediments
Where rockhounds find elbaite
2 mapped spotsClassic worldwide localities
- Mt. Mica, near Paris, Newry, in Oxford Co., Maine, USA
- Haddam, Middlesex Co., Connecticut, USA
- Pala and Mesa Grande districts, San Diego Co., California, USA
- San Piero in Campo, Elba, Italy
- Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk) district, Ural Mountains, Russia
- Korgal and Mawi, Laghman Province, Afghanistan
Field-hunting tip
Where it forms: In granites, granite pegmatites, and some metamorphic rocks; in high-temperature hydrothermal veins; detrital in sediments. If you start seeing quartz, albite, lepidolite in float, you are in the right ground. Typical habit: prismatic, striated. Train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop. In the U.S., the densest reported localities are in Maine, Wisconsin. Start trip planning there.
Common questions
How do you identify elbaite?+
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Can I find elbaite in the United States?+
What rocks look like elbaite?+
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Find elbaite on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
