Minerals

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Name:	Sodalite
Derivation:	Named after sodium
Formula:	Na₈Al₆Si₆O₂₄Cl₂
Description:	Opaque mottled blue stone, often with bits of white in it

Sodalite is a lovely blue, and quite common. It is sometimes used as a substitute for Lapis Lazuli in jewelry, although good Lapis Lazuli is a much richer blue.

A quantity of Sodalite was sent to Denmark from Greenland during the Napoleonic Wars. It was captured by the British however, and examined by a Glasgow chemist, Professor Thomas Thomson, who named it after its sodium content.

Larger pictures of Sodalite:

The first three specimens are natural.

Sodalite

This specimen is polished.

Sodalite