Howlite: The borate mineral Howlite information and pictures
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The Mineral howlite
Howlite is most often available to collectors in tumbled and polished form as an inexpensive
stone. Its white color is easily dyed, and this can be done to resemble Turquoise when dyed a greenish-blue color. Howlite is often used as a cheap substitute
for Turquoise, and some dishonest dealers label dyed Howlite as
Turquoise without informing their sellers about this.
Howlite is named for its discoverer, Henry How, a Canadian geologist from Nova Scotia.
Chemical Formula click to collapse contents
Ca2B5SiO9(OH)5
Color click to collapse contents
White, commonly marked with black, gray, or brown intersecting vine-like or skin-like veins
Properties click to collapse contents
| Streak White |
| Hardness 3.5 |
| Transparency Translucent in thin splinters; otherwise opaque |
| Specific Gravity 2.5 - 2.6 |
| Luster Dull, sometimes vitreous |
| Cleavage None |
| Fracture Conchoidal to even |
| Tenacity Brittle |
| Other ID Marks May fluoresce cream-yellow to white in shortwave ultraviolet light. |
Crystal Habits click to collapse contents
In large nodules and masses, and in fragments of these. Nodules often resemble cauliflower heads. Crystals, which are tabular, are very small and usually clustered together. They are found in only one region in the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia, where they form on large nodules. Also scaly and earthy.
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