Editing Lazurite (section)

==Mineral==
Lazurite is a deep‐blue to greenish‐blue. The colour is due to the presence of [[Trisulfur#Radical anion|{{chem|S|3|-}}]] anions.<ref name=Sapozhnikov>{{Cite journal |author=Tauson VL, Sapozhnikov AN |year=2003 |title=On the nature of lazurite coloring |journal=Zapiski Vserossijskogo Mineralogicheskogo Obshchestva |volume=132 |issue=5 |pages=102–107 |url=http://rruff.info/rruff_1.0/uploads/ZVMO132N5_102.pdf |language=ru }}</ref> It has a [[Mohs hardness]] of 5.0 to 5.5 and a [[specific gravity]] of 2.4. It is translucent with a [[refractive index]] of 1.50. It is fusible at 3.5 on [[Wolfgang Franz von Kobell]]'s [[fusibility]] scale, and soluble in [[Hydrochloric acid|HCl]]. It commonly contains or is associated with grains of [[pyrite]].

Lazurite is a product of [[contact metamorphism]] of [[limestone]] and is typically associated with [[calcite]], pyrite, [[diopside]], [[humite]], [[forsterite]], [[hauyne]] and [[muscovite]].<ref name=HBM/>

Other blue minerals, such as the [[carbonate]] mineral, [[azurite]], and the [[phosphate]] mineral, [[lazulite]], may be confused with lazurite, but are easily distinguished with careful examination. At one time, lazurite was a synonym for [[azurite]].<ref name=Klein/>

Lazurite was first described in 1890 for an occurrence in the [[Sar-e-Sang]] District, [[Koksha Valley]], [[Badakhshan]] Province, [[Afghanistan]].<ref name=Mindat/> It has been mined for more than 6,000 years in the [[lapis lazuli]] district of Badakhshan. It has been used as a pigment in painting and cloth [[dyeing]] since at least the 6th or 7th century.<ref name=Eastlaugh>{{cite book |last=Eastaugh |first=Nicholas |display-authors=et al |year=2004 |title=The Pigment Compendium: Optical Microscopy of Historical Pigments |place=Oxford |publisher=Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann |page=219 |isbn=0-7506-4553-9}}</ref> It is also mined at [[Lake Baikal]] in Siberia; [[Vesuvius|Mount Vesuvius]]; [[Burma]]; [[Canada]]; and the [[United States]].<ref name=Eastlaugh/> The name is from the [[Persian language|Persian]] {{Transliteration|fa|lajvard}} for blue.<ref name="VandA">{{cite web | url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O256542/tile-fragment/ | title=Tile fragment | publisher=Victoria and Albert Museum | access-date=11 January 2020}}</ref>

The most important mineral component of lapis lazuli is lazurite.<ref name="mindatLapisLazuli">{{Cite web|url=https://www.mindat.org/min-2330.html
|title=Lapis lazuli: Mineral information, data and localities.|website=www.mindat.org|access-date=2024-08-30|archive-date=2020-01-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129083053/https://www.mindat.org/min-2330.html|url-status=live}}</ref> (25% to 40%){{citation needed|date=August 2024}}