Leucite and Apophyllite

Good day dear Hive Community, first of all I would like to wish you a pleasant day and hope you made one or the other positive experience! In my post I would like to present you a mineral and hope you can learn something new.

Here you can see interesting rock which is composed of two different minerals Leucite and Apophyllite. Leucite belongs to the mineral class of silicates and germanates and apophyllite to the silicates and is rather common while Leucite is a rare mineral. Both minerals are of magmatic origin and the name of Apophyllite can be traced back to the French mineralogist René-Just Haüy and was called after the greek word apophylliso for it flakes off.

Depending on the occurrence, the crystal form of Apophyllite is transparent to opaque and has a rather low hardness. As you can see in the pictures, the processing is not very easy and is therefore rarely processed as jewelry and also for other industrial productions it is rather unpopular but it could be interesting as a healing stone. Among the best-known places of discovery are India, Iceland, China, Mexico as well as the USA and England and from a symbolic point of view, Apophyllite is associated with the zodiac sign Gemini and is known to improve balance and well-being.

Leucite was first named after the German mineralogist Abraham Gottlob and when he choosed the name he referred to the Greek word Leucit which means white color. The appearance can be very different and in addition to white specimens, there are also red, gray, yellow, green or pink. Leucite is interesting in the production of ceramics and it is also often used in the production of fertilizer. The first place to discovery is probably Italy and it can also be found in India, Australia, Japan or South America.

Thanks for stopping by and watching! I captured the pictures with my Sony Alpha 6000 and 55-210mm lens!