CURRENTLY VIEWING: Kyanite
Kyanite, whose name derives from the Greek, kyanos, meaning blue, is a typically blue silicate mineral, commonly found in aluminium-rich metamorphic pegmatites and/or sedimentary rock.
Kyanite is a member of the aluminosilicate series, which includes the polymorph andalusite and the polymorph sillimanite. Kyanite is strongly anisotropic, in that its hardness varies depending on its crystallographic direction. While this is a feature of almost all minerals, in kyanite this anisotropism can be considered an identifying characteristic.
Kyanite is used primarily in refractory and ceramic products, including porcelain plumbing fixtures and dinnerware. It is also used in electrical insulators and abrasives. Kyanite is important enough an ore that a mining company, the Kyanite Mining Corporation focuses on its processing and refinement. Kyanite has also been used as a gemstone, though this use is limited by its anisotropism and perfect cleavage. Finally, as with most minerals, kyanite is a collector's mineral.
Kyanitehas several alternative names, including disthene, munkrudite and cyanite. White-grey kyanite is also called rhaeticite.
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