Prehnite Mala

Strung in a thread with knots in between ** 108+1 Beads ** Bead Size: 8 mm [approx.] ** Mala Length: 48 cm [approx.] ** "Prehnite is a inosilicate of calcium and aluminium with the formula: Ca2Al(AlSi3O10)(OH)2. Limited Fe3+ substitutes for aluminium in the structure. Prehnite crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system, and most oftens forms as stalactitic or botryoidal aggregates, with only just the crests of small crystals showing any faces, which are almost always curved or composite. Very rarely will it form distinct, well individualized crystals showing a square-like cross-section, like those found at the Jeffrey Mine in Asbestos, Quebec, Canada. It is brittle with an uneven fracture and a vitreous to pearly lustre. Its hardness is 6-6.5, its specific gravity is 2.80-2.90 and its color varies from light green to yellow, but also colorless, blue or white. In April 2000, a rare orange Prehnite was discovered at the famous Kalahari Manganese Fields in South Africa. It is mostly translucent, and rarely transparent. Though not a zeolite, it is found associated with minerals such as datolite, calcite, apophyllite, stilbite, laumontite, heulandite etc. in veins and cavities of basaltic rocks, sometimes in granites, syenites, or gneisses. It is an indicator mineral of the prehnite-pumpellyite metamorphic facies." - Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehnite