Natural Kornerupine

A rare magnesium iron borosilicate, kornerupine has been faceted as a gem, but its interest is mainly for gemologists and collectors. The mineral was discovered in Greenland in 1884 as a pale green to sage green material with a radiating columnar habit in translucent to transparent pieces. It was named in honor of the Danish geologist, Andreas Nikolaus Kornerup. The material from Greenland turned out to be scarce and no other significant deposits were ever reported.

Find your Kornerupine

Our Kornerupine(s) are available in various shapes, sizes and colors. 14 Kornerupine(s), too many to look through? You may select any combination of search options. Colors grade into each other and you can search for more than one color at once. For a better selection, try selecting two or three colors, -- your first choice plus the two closest colors.

Kornerupine Profile

Color information:	Brown, brownish red, yellow-green, light green, blue green
Refractive Index:	1.665 – 1.683
Hardness:	7
Density:	3.25 - 3.35
Crystal Group:	Orthorhombic
Ocurrence:	Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, and Myanmar.
Sign of the Zodiac:	N/A
Month of the year:	N/A

Kornerupine has also been unearthed in Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Kenya, and Tanzania. Kornerupine cat’s eyes have been found in surprisingly large quantities in Sri Lanka. Kornerupine is strongly pleochroic but most of the stones end up showing brown or brownish green. Occasional highly saturated green and blue stones from East Africa have been unearthed but very few are clean in sizes over 1/2ct. The beautiful colors of these stones has been attributed to the presence of chromium or vanadium. With a hardness of 7 and no significant cleavage, kornerupine is hard enough to be used in most kinds of jewelry but it will never be popular due to its rarity.

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