Boracite Gemstone: Properties, Meanings, Value & More

Boracite is a commonly pale blue to green gemstone in the borate mineral family. It’s mostly known among collectors.

Is boracite rare? As a mineral, not so much — boracite minerals are only somewhat uncommon. However, faceted boracite gemstones are much rarer.

This is unfortunate, since the stone has great coloring, durability, and transparency that makes it a beautiful gem.

Don’t worry, there’s still plenty to love about boracite. Today, we’ll tell you all about boracite’s characteristics, prices, history, and more!

Pictured above: Equant boracite dodecahedron floater thumbnail crystal | Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

About Boracite Stone

Boracite is a rare semi-precious gemstone known for its soft greenish-blue color, though it comes in other hues.

The stone’s similar hues to aquamarine can make it a March birthstone substitute, though it may be harder to find than aquamarine.

Astrologically, boracite can be used for any of the water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces.

Other monikers that have been used for boracite include:

• Borate of Magnesia

• Parasite

• Alpha-boracite

• b-Boracite

• Beta-boracite

• Metaboracite

Among boracite’s notable properties are its strong piezoelectricity and pyroelectricity, meaning it generates an electrical charge under pressure and heat, respectively.

Boracite Uses

Borate minerals like boracite have a variety of industrial and commercial uses.

What are borate minerals used for? Common uses include:

• Glass & ceramic coatings

• Cleaning & disinfectant products

• Fertilizers

• Insecticides

Looking at boracite specifically, researchers have created synthetic boracite to study its electrically insulating properties and its potential to store nuclear waste (specifically radioactive iodine).

Pictured above: Rare pink boracite crystals on matrix from Bolivia deposit | Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Boracite Specifications & Characteristics

This mineral is a magnesium borate chloride, so the formula for boracite is Mg3B7O13Cl. Ferrous iron (Fe2+) is a common impurity.

Boracite is the most common member of the boracite mineral group. This group of chloro-borates also includes chambersite, trembathite, congolite, and ericaite.

Ericaite forms a series with boracite, with ericaite as the ferrous iron endmember and boracite as the magnesium endmember. Trembathite is essentially boracite with a trigonal crystal structure.

Compared to most borate minerals, boracite is harder and more durable.

Boracite crystals are usually small and equant, sometimes pseudo-tetragonal or pseudo-cubic. The crystals can also have cubic, dodecahedral, tetrahedral, or cuboctahedral shapes. Rarely, you’ll see penetration twinning in boracite crystals.

The mineral can also occur as massive nodules or aggregates that are granular, fibrous, or plumose (resembling a feather).

Boracite properties listed:

• Mohs hardness: 7-7.5

• Color: Shades of green, blue, greenish-blue, colorless, white, gray, orange; Rarely pink or yellow

• Crystal structure: Orthorhombic

• Luster: Vitreous or adamantine

• Transparency: Translucent to transparent

• Refractive index: 1.658-1.673

• Density: 2.91-3.10

• Cleavage: None

• Fracture: Conchoidal or irregular/uneven

• Streak: White

• Luminescence: Sometimes weak fluorescence - greenish in SW-UV

• Pleochroism: None

• Birefringence: 0.010-0.011

• Dispersion: 0.024

Pictured above: Strassfurtite boracite variety | Image credit: Pacific Museum of Earth from Canada, Flickr, CC-BY-SA-2.0

Types of Boracite

There’s only one natural variety, per se, of boracite: stassfurtite, a fibrous type found in Stassfurt, Germany.

Another type of boracite is synthetic: bromboracit, a bromine boracite analogue with the formula Mg3B7O13Br.

Despite the names, hydroboracite and boracite are not as similar as you’d think.

Hydroboracite is a hydrated borate mineral with the formula CaMg[B3O4(OH)3]2 · 3H2O. It has much lower hardness than boracite.

Next, we’ll take a break from mineralogy to look into boracite’s spiritual side.

Boracite Meaning & History

Boracite crystals symbolize creativity, loyalty, and serenity. Other interpretations of boracite’s spiritual meaning connect the crystal to mental clarity, energy, and vitality, particularly based on its pyroelectric and piezoelectric properties.

History

The name “boracite” derives from the boron in its composition, but this wasn’t the mineral’s first proposed name.

German mineralogist Georg Siegmund Otto Lasius wrote the first description of boracite in 1787, based on specimens from Lüneburg, Germany. Lasius called the stone Kubische Quarzkrystalle, German for “cubic quartz crystals.”

The name boracite was first proposed (as “borazit”) in 1789 by German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner, after German pharmacist Johann Friedrich Westrumb found that the mineral contained boric acid, magnesium, and calcium.

Other names proposed after Werner’s were:

• Lüneburger Sedativ-Spath — 1789 by Westrumb; German for “sedative spar”

• Borate magnésiocalcaire — 1801 by Westrumb; French for “magnesiolime borate”

• Magnésie boratée — 1822 by French mineralogist René Just Haüy; French for “Borated magnesia”

• Parasite — 1854 by German mineralogist G.H. Otto Volger; Chosen for describing lamellar birefringent inclusions within the stone

Iron-bearing boracite has been called Eisenstassfurtit (by A. Huyssen in 1865) and “Huyssenite” (by American geologist James Dwight Dana in 1868.

Pictured above: Gemmy, sharp green-blue boracite crystals from England deposit; Charlie Key Collection | Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Boracite Healing Properties

As a popularly green healing stone, boracite joins other green gemstones in possessing rejuvenating and peaceful properties.

Physical Healing

Physically, boracite is believed to treat issues related to:

• Blood circulation

• Throat & respiratory ailments

• Indigestion

• Fatigue

• Cognition

Emotional Healing

Emotionally, boracite is recommended by crystal healers for clearing away negative or stagnant energy. It’s also said to increase focus, joy, and inner peace while lowering stress and anxiety. Many practitioners say using boracite healing crystals helps improve their mental clarity.

Because it’s a powerful clearing crystal, healers recommend using it with a grounding stone like hematite or black tourmaline.

Chakra Healing

Chakra healing is the process of opening or balancing energy centers (chakras) that have been blocked so that energy can flow freely through them again.

Boracite is a chakra stone for aligning all chakras, but it works especially well with the heart, throat, and solar plexus chakras.

The heart chakra governs love and acceptance; the throat chakra represents truth and expression; the solar plexus chakra deals with confidence and self-worth.

When all three are aligned using boracite, you can feel a deep sense of self-love, a true understanding of your inner self, and the confidence you need to express your true self to the world with love.

Pictured above: Boracite crystal from Mineralogisches Museum Bonn | Image credit: Elke Wetzig (Elya)

Boracite Gemstone Properties

Beyond rarity, boracite gemstone value also depends on color, cut, clarity, and carat weight.

Color

Boracite actually comes in a few colors, with pink being the rarest and yellow also being rare. The most well-known and popular colors are shades of green, blue, or greenish-blue, which tend to be most valuable.

Dark green shades come from significant ferrous iron impurities.

Many crystals are pale, so brighter shades of any color will command higher value for their rarity.

Cut

Given the rarity of facetable material, faceted boracite gemstones are usually most valuable. These often have fairly standard shapes like round, square, or octagonal. Faceted hydroboracite gems often have elongated pear shapes.

Most boracites for sale are rough (uncut) specimens.

Clarity

Clarity describes the degree of visible inclusions in a gem, which can lower its transparency and value. The best boracite gemstones are highly transparent with few to no visible inclusions.

Some boracite gemstones have a sleepy appearance caused by fine, straight inclusion planes. Other inclusions can cause different coloring, like reddish boracite caused by hilgardite inclusions.

Carat Weight & Size

There are only a couple of sources for facetable boracite crystals, and even these crystals are small. Consequently, faceted boracite gems are very rarely over 2 carats.

Boracite Formation & Sources

Most boracite minerals form in evaporite deposits, specifically secondary sedimentary salt and potash deposits where seawater causes evaporite sequences. The presence of boron in these deposits probably comes from volcanic activity close by.

The stone is commonly associated with:

• Anhydrite

• Gypsum

• Halite

• Sylvite

• Carnallite

• Kainite

• Hilgardite

Geographically, where is boracite found?

Mining Locations

Currently, the only known sources of facetable gem-quality boracite crystals are in Germany, specifically the Hanover and Stassfurt districts.

Other significant sources for boracite are:

• Bolivia

• Canada

• China

• France

• Kazakhstan

• UK (England)

• USA (California & Louisiana

Pictured above: Equant boracite dodecahedron crystal; Joe Budd photo | Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Boracite Price & Value

Faceted boracite gemstones range from about $20 to $40 per carat or around $40 to $90 total.

Boracite cabochons are rare but usually about $30.

Prices for rough boracite crystals and specimens range from around $20 up to $2,500. The priciest ones are often large crystal clusters with attractive blue to green hues, starting at about $300. More affordable rough is often connected to a matrix with less attractive coloring.

Boracite Care and Maintenance

Boracite is pretty durable. Though jewelry is rare, most options won’t require protective settings except more vulnerable types like rings.

The biggest consideration with boracite gemstone care is that it will dissolve in hydrochloric acid and slowly dissolve in water.

As such, you should store boracite in a dry place.

You can clean boracite with alcohol instead of water.

Ready to Feel the Benefits of Boracite?

Boracite’s combination of relaxing blue to green hues, alluring rarity, stunning crystal shapes, and joyful healing benefits makes it a perfect gem for any collection or crystal healing space!

Buy boracite and other beautiful gemstones today!