Lapis lazuli

The TinyTuesday challenge is something tiny and mineral related.

I selected a tiny lapis lazuli egg from our collection and spent a long time trying to photograph it appropriately.

Then I found a source that descibed it thus...

Lapis lazuli, semiprecious stone valued for its deep blue colour. The source of the pigment ultramarine, it is not a mineral but a rock coloured by lazurite. In addition to the sodalite minerals in lapis lazuli, small amounts of white calcite and of pyrite crystals are usually present.


But lazurite IS a mineral as are the sodalite crystals present, so this qualifies - what a relief