Formula: LiAlSi₂O₆

Species: Silicates – (Inosilicates)

Colour: Colourless, yellow, light green, emerald-green, pink to violet, purple, white, gray

Lustre: Vitreous, Dull

Hardness: 6½ – 7

Specific Gravity: 3.1 – 3.2

Crystal System: Monoclinic

Member of: Clinopyroxene Subgroup > Pyroxene Group

Name: From Greek “spodoumenos”, “reduced to ashes”, alluding to the grayish-white mass that is formed when the mineral is ignited.

Type Locality: Utö Mines, Utö, Haninge, Stockholm County – Sweden

Spodumene is worked as an ore of lithium, but it is most highly prized as a gem material – the varieties Kunzite (pink) and Hiddenite (green) are especially sought after. It is usually found as a constituent of lithium-rich pegmatites. It forms crystals to 12 meters in length.