Now some of you know how much I love Kyanite, having even named my puppy Kyanite, however Ocean Kyanite is not something most of you would have seen.
Ocean Kyanite is found exclusively in the remote Harts Range in the Northern Territory of Australia. Harts Range is about 190 km by dirt road (Stuart and Plenty Highways) north-east of Alice Springs. Areas most accessible and interesting tend to be along the northern limits of the ranges. The eastern and southern sections can be accessed by a track heading south of the Plenty Highway at the range's eastern limits. Its generally very rugged and mines are small and difficult to find, with many areas not accessible at all by vehicle and while walking is possible it is hampered by lack of defined tracks and water.
Ocean Kyanite was discovered and named by Patrick Gundersen in the Hart’s Range, Australia. Patrick was lucky enough to come across a vibrant teal form of Kyanite whilst out fossicking. It wasn’t green and it wasn’t blue ~ it was a brilliant teal colour, so he named it Ocean Kyanite as it reminded him of the colour of the Ocean.
It is incredibly rare to find pockets of this beautiful mineral and each piece is mined the old fashioned way, digging and using hands!
Kyanite itself is named after Greek word "Kyanos" meaning "blue" because of its colour. Until the mid 20th century Kyanite was spelt and referred to as Cyanite.
Kyanite is a precious blue metamorphosed peri-aluminous sedimentary gemstone with a bladed growth habit. Kyanite grows deep inside earths’ crust inside areas of biotite gneiss, mica schist, and hornfels, which are metamorphic rocks formed at high pressure during regional metamorphism of a protolith rich in aluminium.
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