Sapphirine is a rare magnesium-aluminum silicate typically found in high-grade metamorphic terrains. Collectors prize it for its range of blue to greenish-blue hues, though it is usually opaque to translucent in most localities.
Is this sapphirine?
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 sapphirine with a known reference. Sapphirine sits at Mohs 7.5 — softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Sapphirine leaves a white streak.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Sapphirine typically shows a vitreous luster.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: blue, blue-green, green, gray, white, brown.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: monoclinic. Typical habit: tabular crystals, granular aggregates, massive.
Often confused with
Sapphirine vs. its common look-alikes — and how to tell them apart in the field.
Often found alongside sapphirine
Minerals reported to co-occur with sapphirine. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- (Mg,Al)₈(Al,Si)₆O₂₀
- Mohs hardness
- 7.5
- Density
- 3.4-3.5 g/cm³
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Transparency
- Translucent
- Crystal system
- Monoclinic
- Crystal habit
- Tabular Crystals, Granular Aggregates, Massive
- Cleavage
- Poor/indistinct
- Rarity
- Rare
- Uses
- Collector, Scientific Research
- Host rock
- High-grade Metamorphic Rocks Such as Granulites and Pelitic Schists
- Typical price
- $20-200 per specimen depending on crystal size and transparency
Where rockhounds find sapphirine
Classic worldwide localities
- Fiskenæsset, Greenland
- Val di Vara, Italy
- Madagascar
- Sri Lanka
- Wilson Lake, Canada
Field-hunting tip
Look in high-grade metamorphic rocks such as granulites and pelitic schists country — that is the host setting where sapphirine typically forms. If you start seeing sillimanite, cordierite, garnet in float, you are in the right ground. Field specimens usually show a tabular crystals, granular aggregates, massive habit, so train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
How do you identify sapphirine?+
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Find sapphirine on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
