First off please allow me to appologize for the delay. I have been working on other projects a lot lately and haven't found the time to keep this blog up-dated. Also please forgive the brevity of this post. Again this is due to my lack of time.
The zeolite mineral heulandite was named for John Henry Heuland, an English mineral dealer. It is one of the most common zeolites--a family of silicate minerals. Heulandite is often coral-pink, but it can also be brown, white or red. It has either a pearly or vitreous luster and a Mohs hardness of 3.5 to 4.
Heulandite’s crystals are an oddity among minerals. If they are not altered by a natural processes then they will be shaped like the coffins from Western movies. These crystals can be distorted during their formation, which causes them to look differently.
Heulandite can be used for the myriad of purposes that many other zeolites serve. It has no use in the jewelry industry, but collectors like me love to collect it!
Heulandite is found in basalt like many of its fellow zeolites. Sources of the mineral include: India, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the American states of Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and New Jersey.
The term zeolite denotes a family of minerals with similar chemical structures. They are all aluminum- silicate minerals that have crystal structures which resemble honeycomb. Zeolite minerals are often found in vesicles inside volcanic rocks, especially basalt. There are about fifty minerals in the zeolite group.
The honeycomb-like structure found within the zeolites includes a lot of tiny tunnels and pores that allow water to pass through the mineral without affecting its crystal; and these pores are all of a uniform size. Now ask yourself: does it seem that something like this could occur by chance or do you think it points to the design of a Creator? It’s something worth thinking upon.
Because of the properties that I mentioned above, zeolite minerals are often used to filter very small particles out of air and water. They can also hold water like sponges so they are used thus and in place of potting-soil in some agricultural applications. Zeolites are used to clean up oil spills and radioactive waste as well.
Zeolite minerlas are found in many different countries far too numerous to mention here. I plan to write about some of the members in this family of useful minerals soon and their properties and locations can be discussed on an individual basis.
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