Blue minerals
Blue minerals
Sparkling sapphires are probably the best known blue minerals. Sapphires are a precious form of the mineral corundum - second only to diamond in hardness. But although we all think of sapphire as being blue, it can be lots of other colours as well - yellow, green, pink, and even colourless - in fact any colour except red. Have a look on the colour wheel to see what red corundum is called.
The copper mineral azurite is always blue. In fact, the word 'azurite' comes from an old Persian word 'lazhward', meaning blue. Labradorite, some opals and even diamonds can be blue.
Sapphire (top right), azurite, opal and labradorite are all examples of blue minerals.
