Description
Howlite, Red, Dyed, Chips, approx. 8x5mm, One 32in Strand
This price is for one strand
Howlite is a striking, milky-white borate mineral famous for its intricate, dark spiderweb-like veins. With a texture similar to unglazed porcelain, it was first discovered in Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1868. Miners in a local gypsum quarry kept hitting these hard, white lumps and complained that they were a major nuisance. They handed them to Canadian chemist and mineralogist Henry How, who realized it was a brand-new, undiscovered mineral.
Raw howlite looks remarkably like a head of cauliflower. It grows in knobby, irregular nodules and very rarely forms visible, individual crystals.
Geologically, howlite forms in evaporite deposits: dry, ancient lake beds where mineral-rich waters evaporate, leaving behind layers of borate minerals. Today, it is commercially mined in Canada, United States, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Russia, and Turkey.
Hardness 3.5
Cut, drilled, and polished in China
