Mineral Guide > Mineral Gallery > Hornblende gem stone

Hornblende gem stone

Hornblende is a mineral species placed by Dana in the augite section of the anhydros silicates. In common use the name is limited, as it was formerly applied only to the dark crystalline minerals which are met with in long, slender prisms, either scattered in quartz, granite, etc., or generally disseminated throughout their mass. The color of the mineral is usually black or dark green, owing to the presence of much iron. It appears to have been produced under conditions of fusion and cooling which cannot be imitated in the laboratory, the crystals obtained artificially being of augite type.

Hornblende picture