How to identify Green Fluorite

To correctly identify Green Fluorite (Fluorite (CaF2)), check each of these features in order. Many rocks and minerals look alike, so cross-reference multiple properties before deciding.

Step-by-step identification

1. 1

   Color

   Overall color and any zoning or banding

   Varies from pale to deep green, sometimes with color zoning. Can be translucent to transparent.

2. 2

   Luster

   How the surface reflects light: metallic, vitreous, dull

   Vitreous (glassy).

3. 3

   Texture

   Grain size and surface feel: coarse, fine, glassy

   Smooth to slightly rough on crystal faces. Fracture is conchoidal to uneven.

4. 4

   Crystal Form

   Shape of visible crystals or crystal faces

   Commonly forms cubic crystals, often modified by octahedral or dodecahedral faces. Also found as massive, granular, or botryoidal aggregates.

5. 5

   Cleavage

   How it breaks: flat cleavage planes vs irregular fracture

   Perfect octahedral cleavage in four directions, which can be observed as flat, shiny surfaces when broken.

6. 6

   Geological Environment

   The rock formation and setting where it occurs

   Hydrothermal veins, pegmatites, carbonatites, and as an accessory mineral in some igneous and metamorphic rocks. Often found in association with quartz, calcite, barite, galena, and sphalerite.

Key Facts

Hardness

4 on the Mohs scale

Specific Gravity

3.18 g/cm³ (variable with impurities)

Crystal System

Cubic (isometric)

Color

Green, purple, blue, yellow, pink, colorless, brown, black; often color-zoned

Luster

Vitreous

Transparency

Transparent to translucent

Fracture

Conchoidal to uneven

Cleavage

Perfect octahedral in four directions

Composition

Calcium Fluoride (CaF2)

Physical characteristics

• Crystal Habit: Cubic, octahedral, dodecahedral; also massive, granular, botryoidal
• Cleavage Type: Perfect octahedral {111}
• Fracture Type: Conchoidal to uneven
• Tenacity: Brittle
• Luster Type: Vitreous

Explore Green Fluorite