Lapis lazuli
Rock
Also called Lapis and Lazurite rock
About it
Intense blue rock of lazurite with flecks of brassy pyrite and white calcite, used as a gem and for ultramarine pigment for millennia. The finest comes from Badakhshan, Afghanistan; also from Chile and Lake Baikal, Russia.
- Type
- Rock (metamorphic)
- Group
- Metamorphic (lazurite rock)
- Hardness (Mohs)
- 5–5.5
- Specific gravity
- 2.5–3
- Lustre
- dull, vitreous (glassy)
- Colours
- deep blue, violet-blue, with gold pyrite and white calcite
- Transparency
- opaque
- Cleavage and fracture
- none; uneven fracture
Typical values: real specimens vary. For more, see mindat.org.