A kyanite blade is a distinctive elongated, bladed crystal, usually blue. Kyanite is famous for its anisotropic hardness, being much softer along the length of the blade than across it, which collectors can verify with a careful scratch test.
Is this kyanite blade?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch kyanite blade with a known reference. Kyanite Blade sits at Mohs 4.5-7, softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Kyanite Blade leaves a white streak.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Kyanite Blade typically shows a vitreous luster.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: blue, white, gray, green, black.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: triclinic. Typical habit: bladed, fibrous, radiating.
Often confused with
Kyanite Blade vs. its common look-alikes, and how to tell them apart in the field.
Often found alongside kyanite blade
Minerals reported to co-occur with kyanite blade. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Al₂SiO₅
- Mohs hardness
- 4.5-7
- Density
- 3.53-3.65 g/cm³
- Streak
- White
- Luster
- Vitreous
- Transparency
- Translucent
- Crystal system
- Triclinic
- Crystal habit
- Bladed, Fibrous, Radiating
- Cleavage
- Perfect
- Rarity
- Common
- Uses
- Collector, Industrial, Lapidary
- Host rock
- Metamorphic Schists and Gneisses
Where rockhounds find kyanite blade
1 mapped spotsClassic worldwide localities
- Switzerland
- Brazil
- USA (North Carolina)
- India
- Nepal
Field-hunting tip
Look in metamorphic schists and gneisses country, the host setting where kyanite blade typically forms. If you start seeing garnet, staurolite, quartz in float, you are in the right ground. Field specimens usually show a bladed, fibrous, radiating habit, so train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop. In the U.S., the densest reported localities are in Pennsylvania. Start trip planning there.
More kyanite blade photos
Common questions
How do you identify kyanite blade?+
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What rocks look like kyanite blade?+
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Find kyanite blade on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
