Almandine garnet is an iron aluminum silicate with a characteristic red color.
Pronunciation: ALL•man•deen GAR•net (accent on capitalized syllable)
Color: deep red to brownish red
Luster: vitreous
Diaphaneity: translucent; may appear opaque in hand specimen
Hardness: 6.5-7.5
Specific gravity: 3.5-4.3
Cleavage/fracture: none (glassy fracture)
Other distinguishing properties: Forms in 12x-sided equant balls. Commonly found in metamorphic rocks, such as garnet shists. Garnets are commonly used as abrasives and in sand paper, because of their hardness.
Klein, C., and Hurlbut, C.S., Jr., 1999, Manual of Mineralogy (after James D. Dana) [21st edition, revised]: New York, John Wiley & Sons, 682 p.
Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, The Photo Atlas of Minerals: nhm.org/pam/
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