Formula: Na(AlSi₃O₈)

Species:  Silicates – (Tectosilicates)

Colour: White to grey, bluish, greenish, reddish, colorless

Lustre: Vitreous

Hardness: 6 – 6½

Specific Gravity: 2.6 – 2.65

Crystal System:Triclinic

Member of: Plagioclase Group > Feldspar Group

Name: Named in 1815 by Johan Gottlieb Gahn and Jöns Jacob Berzelius from Latin “albus”, white, alluding to its usual color.

Co-Type Localities: Catharina Neufang Mine, St Andreasberg, Braunlage, Goslar District, Lower Saxony, Germany, Finnbo (Finbo), Falun, Dalarna County – Sweden

One of the most common members of the Feldspar group. Often associated with potassium feldspar (triclinic microcline or monoclinic orthoclase), with which it may form epitaxial intergrowths.