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Originating from the Persian word for the gem, lāžward, [1] lapis lazuli is a rock composed primarily of the minerals lazurite, pyrite and calcite. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, [2] in Shortugai, and in other mines in Badakhshan province in modern northeast Afghanistan. [3]
Haüyne or prismatic azure spar is a transparent or translucent mineral, similar to lazurite, in composition sodium and calcium aluminosilicate with the ideal formula (Na,Ca) 4-8 Al 6 Si 6 (O,S) 24 (SO 4,Cl) 1-2 having a blue or blue color, sometimes with a greenish tint, [5] was also known among the azure spars.
The Sar-i Sang lapis lazuli mine probably dates from prehistoric times.It consists of one old disused shaft and two new shafts. This was the main source of lapis lazuli in the ancient world, with lapis from here occurring in such famous archaeological discoveries as the Royal Treasure of Ur and the Tomb of Tutankhamun.
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. Many hauynes have a white or pale blue streak and are translucent.
Lapis lazuli (the pigment ultramarine) was chiefly supplied from Afghanistan during the Middle Ages, whereas azurite was a common mineral in Europe at the time. Sizable deposits were found near Lyons, France. It was mined since the 12th century in Saxony, in the silver mines located there. [17]
Size: 2.4 cm × 1.7 cm × 0.8 cm (0.94 in × 0.67 in × 0.31 in). Lazulite forms by high-grade metamorphism of silica -rich rocks and in pegmatites . It occurs in association with quartz , andalusite , rutile , kyanite , corundum , muscovite , pyrophyllite , dumortierite , wagnerite , svanbergite , trolleite , and berlinite in metamorphic ...
The first noted use of lapis lazuli as a pigment can be seen in 6th and 7th-century paintings in Zoroastrian and Buddhist cave temples in Afghanistan, near the most famous source of the mineral. Lapis lazuli has been identified in Chinese paintings from the 10th and 11th centuries, in Indian mural paintings from the 11th, 12th, and 17th ...
It has refractive index values of nω = 1.523 and nε = 1.529. It has one direction of perfect cleavage and exhibits conchoidal fracture. [4] It fluoresces a bright orange. Afghanite. It was discovered in 1968 in the Lapis-lazuli Mine, Sar-i Sang, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan and takes its name from that country.