How do I identify Enstatite?

Enstatite can be identified by its hardness of 5 - 6 on the Mohs scale, White color, Pearly, Vitreous luster, Orthorhombic crystal system. Look for these key characteristics when examining specimens.

What color is Enstatite?

Enstatite typically appears in White, yellowish green, brown, greenish white, grey, olive-green. Color can vary depending on impurities and formation conditions.

How hard is Enstatite?

Enstatite has a hardness of 5 - 6 on the Mohs scale. This gives it moderate hardness.

Enstatite

A variety of Orthopyroxene Subgroup

Rare

Enstatite specimen - rock identification

What is Enstatite?

Enstatite is a common mineral that is often transparent and lightly colored and found mainly in metamorphic rocks. Some varieties are used as gemstones, while others are collected as mineral specimens only. The ornamental and gemstone varieties include bronzite and an emerald green stone called chrome-enstatite.

Optical Properties

Refractive Index: 1.650-1.680
Birefringence: 0.009-0.012
Pleochroism: Brown variety - strong trichroism: pinkish red to brown, yellow, green; Green variety - distinct: yellow-green, green
Optical Character: Biaxial positive

Enstatite Market Value Calculator

Estimate the market value of Enstatite using size, quality, and finish. This preview calculator is for quick context and is not a formal appraisal.

Enstatite Localities Map

See where Enstatite is found with a localities map, collecting zones, and geology context. Generate a sample map preview below.

Map preview

North ZoneCentral RidgeSouth Basin

The Meaning

Enstatite was used to create ancient Egyptian impression seals and amulets, particularly those of Scarabs. This unique artwork was inspired by the scarab beetle, an insect highly admired by the Egyptians as the cycle of rolling its dung was believed to be similar to the ancient Egyptian's god Ra rolling the sun across the sky.

Key Characteristics

Formation of Enstatite

Isolated crystals are rare, but orthopyroxene is an essential constituent of various types of igneous rocks and metamorphic rocks. Magnesian orthopyroxene occurs in plutonic rocks such as gabbro (norite) and diorite. It may form small idiomorphic phenocrysts and also groundmass grains in volcanic rocks such as basalt, andesite, and dacite. Enstatite, close to En90Fs10 in composition, is an essential mineral in typical peridotite and pyroxenite of the Earth's mantle. Xenoliths of peridotite are common in kimberlite and in some basalt. Measurements of the calcium, aluminum, and chromium contents of enstatite in these xenoliths have been crucial in reconstructing the depths from which the xenoliths were plucked by the ascending magmas. Orthopyroxene is an important constituent of some metamorphic rocks such as granulite. Orthopyroxene near pure enstatite in composition occurs in some metamorphosed serpentines. Large crystals, a foot in length and mostly altered to steatite, were found in 1874 in the apatite veins traversing mica-schist and hornblende-schist at the apatite mine of Kjørstad, near Brevik in southern Norway. Enstatite is a common mineral in meteorites. Crystals have been found in stony and iron meteorites, including one that fell at Breitenbach in the Ore Mountains, Bohemia. In some meteorites, together with olivine it forms the bulk of the material; it can occur in small spherical masses, or chondrules, with an internal radiated structure.