Spodumene is sometimes cut and polished as a gem, but its peculiar
cleavage makes it a bad stone for the lapidary to cut and the jeweler
to mount.
Its hardness is 6.5 to 7, specific gravity 3.13 to 3.19, and lustre,
vitreous to pearly.
Grayish-green, greenish-white, and sometimes yellow or faint red are
the colors. Its composition is:
Silica 64.2
Alumina 29.4
Lithia 6.4
Acids do not attack spodumene, and under the blow-pipe it fuses to a
white glass.
This mineral is found in Sweden, the Tyrol, Ireland, Scotland, and the
United States.