Uvarovite
Species
Rare · Ca₃Cr₂(SiO₄)₃
Calcium chromium garnet, the one garnet species that is always green, coloured by its chromium. It forms in serpentinites and skarns rich in chromite. Crystals are usually too small to facet but coat chromite in glittering green druses.
Identity
- Formula
- Ca₃Cr₂(SiO₄)₃
- Chemical class
- Silicate
- Part of
- Garnet
- Mineral group
- Demantoid, Garnet, Grossular, Spessartine, Tsavorite
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Cubic
- Habits
- Dodecahedral, Massive
- Fracture
- Conchoidal
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 7
- Density
- 3.77 g/cm³
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Colors
- emerald green, dark green
- Streak
- white
- Transparency
- Transparent, Translucent
Geology
- Origins
- Metamorphic
- Host rocks
- Ultramafic rock (peridotite, serpentinite)
- Associated minerals
- Chromite, Serpentine, Calcite
- Geography
- Russia (Ural Mountains), Finland, Spain, Canada, Turkey
Classification
- Rarity
- Rare
- Gem quality
- Yes
Arcane properties
- Affinity
- Earth, Life
- Effects
- Healing, Elemental earth
- Planar origin
- Material Plane
Sources
- 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.
- J. W. Anthony, R. A. Bideaux, K. W. Bladh, M. C. Nichols, Uvarovite. Mineral Data Publishing, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2001.
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