Description
These elbaite, variety rubellite, crystals are from the Himalaya Mine at Gem Hill, Mesa Grande District, San Diego County, California, USA. It has 77 different mineral species including elbaite. Elbaite is a type of tourmaline that contains the elements Na, Li, Al, Si, B, and H. Pure crystals are colorless but it can be found in a variety of colors depending on the trace elements incorporated in the crystal lattice.This specimen is the pink variety called rubellite. This piece consists of a mostly lepidolite (lithium mica) matrix that hosts everal parallel terminated rubellite tourmaline crystals. It measures 2 1/8 x 11/16 x 11/16 inches or 59 x 18 x 17 mm.
