Description

Amazonite is a green variety of Feldspar.  The name is taken from that of the Amazon River, from which certain green stones were formerly obtained, but it is doubtful whether green Feldspar occurs in the Amazon area.  It is a mineral of limited occurrence but is often associated with smoky Quartz, Orthoclase and Albite in a coarse Granite or Pegmatite.  Because of its bright green color when polished, Amazonite is sometimes cut and used as a gemstone, although it is easily fractured.

Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate group of minerals containing potassium, sodium, calcium and aluminium silicatesminerals that make up as much as 60% of the Earth’s crust.  They are the most common rock-forming minerals. Feldspars crystallize from magma as veins in both intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks and are also present in many types of metamorphic rock. Feldspars are also found in many types of sedimentary rock.