page_title: Garnet
section_title: Almandine
hierarchical_section_title: Garnet / Garnet group end member species / Pyralspite garnets – aluminium in Y site / Almandine
context_page_description: Garnets are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives.
  All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, but differ in chemical composition. The different species are pyrope, almandine, spessartine, grossular, uvarovite and andradite. The garnets make up two solid solution series: pyrope-almandine-spessartine and uvarovite-grossular-andradite.
context_section_description: Almandine, sometimes incorrectly called almandite, is the modern gem known as carbuncle (though originally almost any red gemstone was known by this name). The term "carbuncle" is derived from the Latin meaning "live coal" or burning charcoal. The name Almandine is a corruption of Alabanda, a region in Asia Minor where these stones were cut in ancient times.  Chemically, almandine is an iron-aluminium garnet  with the formula Fe₃Al₂(SiO₄)₃; the deep red transparent stones are often called precious garnet and are used as gemstones (being the most common of the gem garnets). Almandine occurs in metamorphic rocks like mica schists, associated with minerals such as staurolite, kyanite, andalusite, and others. Almandine has nicknames of Oriental garnet, almandine ruby, and carbuncle.
caption: Almandine in metamorphic rock
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