Topaz

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Mineral guide

Learn about Topaz

hard, glassy orthorhombic crystals from pegmatites and rhyolites; colors range from colorless to pink; sharp terminations aid identification, localitie…

Regional guide

Topaz from Erongo Mountains, Namibia

The Erongo Mountains produce one of the more distinctive African topaz styles: pale blue, pale green, or colorless crystals from miarolitic cavities in a granite-dominated volcanic complex, often accompanied by schorl, feldspar, smoky quartz, fluorite, aquamarine, muscovite, or goethite. Unlike the more familiar Namibian topaz from the Spitzkoppe area, Erongo topaz is valued less as loose gem rough and more as a specimen mineral—etched, glassy, sharply terminated, and best of all still attached to its original pocket matrix.