Schorl

schorl

topaz

beryl

cassiterite

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Schorl is the commonest member of the tourmaline group.
Formula: NaFe2+3Al6(Si6O18) (BO3)3(OH)3(OH)
cyclosilicate (ring silicate), borosilicate
Crystal System: Trigonal
Specific gravity: 3.18 to 3.22 measured, 3.244 calculated
Hardness: 7
Streak: Brown Greyish-white to bluish-white.
Colour: Bluish-black to black, sometimes brownish-black, rarely greenish-black.
Common impurities: Mn,Mg,Ca,Li,Cr,Ti,F,K
Environments (tourmaline):

Plutonic igneous environments
Pegmatites best known
Metamorphic environments
Hydrothermal environments


Tourmaline is found in granite and granite pegmatites, in metamorphic rocks and as a primary mineral in hypothermal (high temperature) hydrothermal veins.

Localities

In the Erongo region, Namibia, schorl is found in small cavities in granite, associated with quartz, topaz, fluorite, apatite and cassiterite (Journal of the Gemmological Association of Hong Kong 2018 Vol XXXIX p 75). Schorl pseudomorphs after beryl have been found here (KL p227).

At the Emmons pegmatite, Greenwood, Oxford county, Maine, USA, schorl to 45 cm is abundant in the wall zone. In the interior zones schorl is partially or completely replaced by muscovite. The Emmons pegmatite is an example of a highly evolved boron-lithium-cesium-tantalum enriched pegmatite (R&M 94.6.515).

At the PC Mine, Cataract Mining District, Jefferson county, Montana, USA, schorl occurred as inclusions in quartz and as fine needles (R&M 96.6.494).

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