Amazonite with Tourmaline from Shilu, province Guangdong, China

Amazonite, sometimes called Amazon stone is a green variety of feldspar microkliene. The name comes from the Amazon River, which used to be a certain type of green stones were won, but it is doubtful whether green feldspar also occurs in the Amazon. Amazonite is only limited. Previously it was mined almost exclusively in the Russian city of Miass in the Ilmenbergen in the Southern Urals, where it occurs in granite cliffs. More recently crystals were also found in the Pikes Peak in the US state of Colorado, where it is located in complexes with smoky quartz, orthoclase and albite in rough granite and pegmatite. Several other locations in the United States, including the Crystal Peak in Colorado also contain the same amazonietlagen and also in Madagascar amazonite found in pegmatietlagen. Because of its bright green color that can get the mineral from polishing, amazonite is sometimes cut into pieces and used as a gemstone, though it easily fractures occur. Long have you wondered where the green color of amazonite comes from. Many thought the color was created by copper, as copper deposits often have blue and green colors. Recent studies, however, suggest that the blue-green color results from small amounts of lead and water in the feldspar (Hoffmeister and Rossman, 1985).