Beryl
Mineral Be3Al2Si6O18
Also called Bixbite
About it
Six-sided prisms with flat ends, harder than quartz; emerald, aquamarine, morganite, and heliodor are its varieties. Giant crystals grow in pegmatites; Brazil, Colombia, Pakistan, and Utah (red beryl).
- Type
- Mineral
- Group
- Silicate (cyclosilicate), beryl group
- Formula
- Be3Al2Si6O18
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 7.5–8
- Specific gravity
- 2.63–2.92
- Streak
- white
- Lustre
- vitreous (glassy)
- Crystal system
- Hexagonal
- Colours
- green, blue, yellow, pink, red, colourless, white
- Transparency
- transparent, translucent, opaque
- Cleavage and fracture
- indistinct basal; conchoidal to uneven fracture
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.