Home > American Minerals III – May 26 > MS1581 Diopside

Diopside - Sold


Diopside is a calcium magnesium silicate and a member of the pyroxene group (Morimoto et al., 1988). Following the suggestion of René Just Haüy, Tonnelier (1806) assigned the species its modern name. The mineral name diopside combines the atypical ending side with diop, Greek roots for appearance and double, respectively, implying two choices of prism zones for the crystals. Diopside is a widespread rock forming mineral, but it is rather unusual in transparent free standing crystals.

De Kalb diopside served as a standard for petrological studies due to its grain size and low iron content. While known since the nineteenth century, specimens from this locality are rarely available. This specimen is a cluster of pale green crystals to 1.5 cm long.