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When emeralds were first discovered in western North Carolina, lots of green stones began to turn up. But not every green stone is an emerald. Sometimes, there’s a hidden story. Hiddenite, like emerald, is a beautiful green gemstone. However, hiddenite is a form of the mineral spodumene, while emerald is a form of the mineral beryl. Both minerals contain aluminum, silicon and chromium. But they differ in one important way— emeralds contain beryllium, while hiddenite contains lithium. Because of its composition and color, Hiddenite is sometimes called a "lithia emerald." Hiddenite is extremely rare; the only verified specimens have been found in North Carolina, India and Siberia. Hiddenite, both the mineral and the town where it was originally found, was named for William Earl Hidden. He signed and dated the card with this specimen, the first crystal of hiddenite ever found in the rock that produced it.
Cool Links: Hiddenite - Gemstone characteristics and information. The Hiddenite Occurrence in North Carolina - This 1927 American Mineralogist article on the geology of the Hiddenite mine is a bit technical, but historically interesting. back to Nature Notebook
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