TOURMALINE (BLACK)

ANGER (RELEASE) | ANXIETY (OVERCOMING) | GROUNDING | POSITIVITY | PROTECTION

Black Tourmaline, also called Schorl, is the Iron-rich member of the Tourmaline group and the most common of them. Tourmaline is a complex Boron Silicate, and in Schorl the Iron is abundant enough to make the crystal opaque and a deep, glossy black. The name is old, and is thought to come from a village in Saxony where it was mined.

It forms in granitic pegmatites and in the veins and metamorphic rocks around them, where fluids rich in Boron cool slowly and crystallise. Crystals are long and prismatic with deep vertical striations and a rounded, triangular cross-section. They often grow in clusters, or as single terminated crystals, and are frequently found embedded in Quartz or on a pale matrix of Feldspar or Mica.

It is 7 to 7.5 on the Mohs scale.  Like other Tourmalines, it builds up an electric charge when heated or put under pressure.

Brazil, Namibia, Pakistan, Madagascar, Nigeria and Afghanistan all produce fine specimens.