How do I identify Kosnarite?

Kosnarite can be identified by its hardness of 4.5 on the Mohs scale, Pale blue to pale green to colourless. color. Look for these key characteristics when examining specimens.

What color is Kosnarite?

Kosnarite typically appears in Pale blue to pale green to colourless.. Color can vary depending on impurities and formation conditions.

How hard is Kosnarite?

Kosnarite has a hardness of 4.5 on the Mohs scale. This gives it moderate hardness.

Kosnarite

A variety of Minerals

What is Kosnarite?

Kosnarite is a alkali zirconium phosphate mineral (KZr2(PO4)3) named after an expert of pegmatites Richar A. Kosnar. Kosnarite contains potassium, oxygen, phosphorus, and zirconium with sodium, rubidium, hafnium, manganese and fluorine (Na, Rb, Hf, Mn, and F) being common impurities found in kosnarite. It was discovered in nature for the first time in 1991 by Vandall T. King. Samples that were found in granitic pegmatites from the Mount Mica Quarry, Paris, Oxford County, Maine, U.S.A were sent to Eugene E. Foord for study. This became the first recorded case of naturally occurring kosnarite.

Kosnarite Market Value Calculator

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

Kosnarite Localities Map

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

Map preview

North ZoneCentral RidgeSouth Basin

Key Characteristics

Formation of Kosnarite

The first naturally occurring kosnarite was discovered in northern Maine in the United States. Another deposit was later found in Black Mountain, Oxford County, Maine. Both of these deposits were found in zoned granitic pegmatites associated with several minerals such as quartz, lepidolite, and beryl. Another deposit was found in Vycheproof, Northern Victoria, Australia, and this sample of kosnarite was also found in granitic pegmatite. Pegmatite is the term for a form of igneous rock with relatively large interlocking crystals, and there are three popular theories on how pegmatites named metamorphic, magmatic, and metasomatic. The pegmatites that the kosnarite are found in are believed to be formed by a mixture of magmatic and metamorphic as the kosnarite forms in the later stages of paragenesis by the alterations of hydrothermal fluids.