Other blue minerals, such as the carbonate mineral, azurite, and the phosphate mineral, lazulite, may be confused with lazurite, but are easily distinguished with careful examination. At one time, lazurite was a synonym for azurite.[5]
The most important mineral component of lapis lazuli is lazurite.[11] (25% to 40%)[citation needed]
Redefinition
Most lapis lazuli gets its blue color from Hauyne and almost none contain "true lazurite".[11] This was changed in 2021, as lazurite was redefined so that it is enough for a quarter (instead of half) of the cages to contain sulfide.[12]
Structure
Lazurite and hauyne seem to have the same structure and both are sulfate-dominant minerals.[13] Lazurite is a pigment (opalescent) and has a bright blue streak (especially as a component of the semiprecious stone lapis lazuli). Many hauynes have a white or pale blue streak and are translucent. The difference might be a consequence of the redox state (sulfate to sulfide ratio).[8][14]
See also
Hauyne– Rare feldspathoid mineral in the sodalite group
↑Krivovichev V. G. Mineralogical glossary. Scientific editor A. G. Bulakh. — St.Petersburg: St.Petersburg Univ. Publ. House. 2009. — 556 p. — ISBN 978-5-288-04863-0. (in Russian)
12Tauson VL, Sapozhnikov AN (2003). "On the nature of lazurite coloring"(PDF). Zapiski Vserossijskogo Mineralogicheskogo Obshchestva (in Russian). 132 (5): 102–107.
12Eastaugh, Nicholas; etal. (2004). The Pigment Compendium: Optical Microscopy of Historical Pigments. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. p.219. ISBN0-7506-4553-9.
↑"Tile fragment". Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
↑Moore, T.P.; Woodside, R. W. M. (2014). "The Sar-e-Sang Lapis Mines". Mineralogical Record. 45 (3): 281–336.
↑Hettmann K, Wenzel T, Marks M, Markl G (2012). "The sulfur speciation in S-bearing minerals: New constraints by a combination of electron microprobe analysis and DFT calculations with special reference to sodalite-group minerals". American Mineralogist. 97 (10): 1653–1661. Bibcode:2012AmMin..97.1653H. doi:10.2138/am.2012.4031. S2CID54921328.
