Magnesite

Magnesite: a mineral with the chemical formula MgCO3. It ranges from transparent to translucent, with a vitreous luster and colors varying from white to colorless, gray, and brownish. It crystallizes in the Trigonal System and rarely forms distinct crystals, usually occurring as granular aggregates or in compact crystalline masses. It is found in both dolomitic rocks and metamorphic rocks.

magnesite
(Photo: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0/Wikimedia Commons, License CC BY-SA 3.0)
magnesite
(Photo: Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts/Wikimedia Commons, License CC BY-SA 4.0)

back to the gemological glossary