Paraíba Tourmaline
Variety of elbaite
Legendary · Na(Al₁.₅Li₁.₅)Al₆(Si₆O₁₈)(BO₃)₃(OH)₃(OH)
Elbaite tourmaline coloured neon blue to green by copper, with manganese, a colouring agent in no other tourmaline. It was first found in the late 1980s in the state of Paraíba, Brazil; similar stones came from Nigeria and Mozambique in the early 2000s, and the trade now uses the name for the colour, whatever the origin. Brazilian stones still command the highest prices.
Identity
- Formula
- Na(Al₁.₅Li₁.₅)Al₆(Si₆O₁₈)(BO₃)₃(OH)₃(OH)
- Chemical class
- Silicate
- Mineral group
- Tourmaline
- Also known as
- Copper-bearing elbaite, Neon tourmaline
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Trigonal
- Habits
- Prismatic, Columnar
- Fracture
- Conchoidal
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 7
- Density
- 3.06 g/cm³
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Colors
- neon blue, electric blue, blue-green, green, violet
- Streak
- white
- Transparency
- Transparent
Geology
- Origins
- Igneous
- Host rocks
- Granite, River gravels and sands
- Associated minerals
- Quartz, feldspar, lepidolite
- Found in
- Pegmatite deposit, Placer deposit
- Geography
- Brazil (Paraíba state), Nigeria, Mozambique
Classification
- Rarity
- Legendary
- Gem quality
- Yes
Arcane properties
- Affinity
- Water, Storm
- Effects
- Elemental lightning, Elemental ice, Scrying
- Planar origin
- Material Plane
Sources
- Paraíba Tourmaline. Mindat.org (Hudson Institute of Mineralogy).
- Geographic Origin Determination of Paraíba Tourmaline. Gemological Institute of America, Gems & Gemology (Winter 2019), 2019.
- Tourmaline Description. Gemological Institute of America, Gem Encyclopedia.
- J. W. Anthony, R. A. Bideaux, K. W. Bladh, M. C. Nichols, Elbaite. Mineral Data Publishing, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2001.
- M. Pasero and others, IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification, The New IMA List of Minerals, updated September 2026. International Mineralogical Association (CNMNC), 2026.
- An Update on "Paraíba" Tourmaline from Brazil. Gemological Institute of America, Gems & Gemology (Winter 2001, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 260-276), 2001.
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