Red beryl

Infobox mineral
name = Red beryl
category = Mineral (cyclosilicate)
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caption =
formula = Be₃(AlMn)₂Si₆O₁₈
color = Orange-red to red to purple-red
habit = Elongate or tabular first order prisms.
system = Hexagonal
cleavage = Basal, seldom visible
fracture = Conchoidal
mohs = 7.5 - 8.0
luster = Vitreous
refractive = 1.567-1.580
pleochroism = Purple-red/orange-red to red
streak = White
gravity = 2.66-2.70
melt =
fusibility =
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Red beryl (also known as "bixbite", "red emerald" or "scarlet emerald") is a red variety of beryl (emerald), Be₃(Al,Mn)₂(SiO₃)₆. It was named after its type locality Maynard's Claim (Pismire Knolls), Thomas Range, Juab County, Utah, USA. [ [http://www.mindat.org/min-690.html MinDat - Red beryl] ] .

The old synonym bixbite is deprecated from the CIBJO, because of the risk of confusion with the mineral bixbyite (named after the mineralogist Maynard Bixby (1853-1935)), from which it was erroneously derived. The name "bixbite" shouldn't be used any longer.

Red beryl is rare and has only been reported from a handful of locations including:
*Wah Wah Mountains, Beaver County, Utah
*Paramount Canyon, Sierra County, New Mexico
*Round Mountain, Sierra County, New Mexico
*Thomas Range, Juab County, Utah

The greatest concentration of gem-grade red beryl comes from the Violet Claim in the Wah Wah Mountains of mid-western Utah, discovered in 1958 by Lamar Hodges, of Fillmore, Utah, while he was prospecting for uranium [cite web | title=Red Emerald History | url=http://www.redemerald.com/history.html | date=2007-11-21 | accessdate=2007-11-21] .

While gem beryls are ordinarily found in pegmatites and certain metamorphic rocks, bixbite occurs in topaz-bearing rhyolites. It formed by crystallizing under low pressure and high temperature from a pneumatolitic phase along fractures or within near-surface miarolitic cavities of rhyolitic magmas. Associated minerals include bixbyite, quartz, orthoclase, topaz, spessartine garnet, pseudobrookite and hematite. The red color is thought to be from manganese substituting for aluminium in the beryl structure.

Gem-quality red beryl is very rare, and the largest faceted gemstones are less than three carats (600 mg) in size.

ee also

*List of minerals
*List of minerals named after people

References

* [http://www.mindat.org/min-690.html Mindat]