Mint tourmaline
Family
Tourmaline mint is a variety of a blue elbait tourmaline, so it is a mineral of the silicate family.
Etymology
Its name, "mint" comes from English and simply refers to its distinct mint color.
Extraction sites
Mint tourmalines are found mainly in Brazil, but also in Sri Lanka, the United States (in the states of Maine and California), Mozambique, Madagascar and Nigeria.
Colors
The mint tourmalines have a pastel color range in the bluish green part of the color spectrum.
Composition
The composition of tourmaline mint is the same as that of indigolite tourmaline: Boro-silicate complex of aluminum, magnesium and iron. Simply the amount of certain components varies and gives it its beautiful color.
Hardness
Tourmaline is a fairly hard stone, rated 7.5 out of 10 on the Mohs scale, and so are all these different varieties, including tourmaline mint.
Treatment
It is common for blue tourmalines to be heat treated to warm up their colors a bit.
Celebrations
Birthstone of the month of October, it is also the stone offered to celebrate the 11th wedding anniversary.
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