How can you identify Leucite?

Compare several properties rather than relying on colour alone. This entry records colour: White, gray; lustre: Vitreous; streak: White; Mohs hardness: 5.5-6; cleavage: Poor; crystal system: Tetragonal pseudoisometric; transparency: Translucent. Confirm an important identification with additional field tests or qualified laboratory work.

What is Leucite commonly confused with?

Leucite may be confused with Analcime, Garnet, Nepheline. Compare multiple diagnostic properties because colour and surface appearance can overlap.

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Leucite identification and geology

Potassium aluminum silicate feldspathoid forming distinctive trapezohedron-shaped crystals in potassium-rich volcanic rocks. Color: White, gray. Luster: Vitreous. Streak: White. Cleavage: Poor. Hardness: 5.5-6. Transparency: Translucent. Crystal system: Tetragonal pseudoisometric. Chemical formula: KAlSi₂O₆. Specific gravity: 2.47. Formation: Crystallizes from potassium-rich, silica-poor volcanic magmas at high temperatures. Common geological settings: Italy Vesuvius, Alban Hills , Germany Eifel , USA; found in leucitite and phonolite lavas. Common look-alikes and related entries: Analcime, Garnet, Nepheline.

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Analcime
Nepheline

Sources, scope & corrections

These authoritative resources support category-level nomenclature, terminology, identification methods, and safety. When a specimen-specific safety warning appears, the public-health source listed here directly supports that precaution. They are not line-by-line citations for every other property on this entry, and natural specimens vary.

Editorial owner: GeoMiner
Last updated: 2026-03-30T14:37:49.730905+00:00
Review status: Published; not independently peer-reviewed

IMA–CNMNC List of Mineral Names — International Mineralogical Association. Official mineral-name, nomenclature, and classification records.
Mineral ID Key — Mineralogical Society of America. Physical-property identification methods, repeat-testing guidance, and limitations.

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Common questions

What is Leucite?: Potassium aluminum silicate feldspathoid forming distinctive trapezohedron-shaped crystals in potassium-rich volcanic rocks.
How can you identify Leucite?: Compare several properties rather than relying on colour alone. This entry records colour: White, gray; lustre: Vitreous; streak: White; Mohs hardness: 5.5-6; cleavage: Poor; crystal system: Tetragonal pseudoisometric; transparency: Translucent. Confirm an important identification with additional field tests or qualified laboratory work.
How does Leucite form?: Crystallizes from potassium-rich, silica-poor volcanic magmas at high temperatures.
Where is Leucite commonly found?: Italy Vesuvius, Alban Hills , Germany Eifel , USA; found in leucitite and phonolite lavas.
What is Leucite commonly confused with?: Leucite may be confused with Analcime, Garnet, Nepheline. Compare multiple diagnostic properties because colour and surface appearance can overlap.

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Leucite identification and geology

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Sources, scope & corrections

Common questions