Howlite: The borate mineral Howlite information and pictures

About

Howlite is most often available to collectors in tumbled and polished form as an inexpensive stone. Its white color is easily dyed, and this can be done to resemble Turquoise when dyed a greenish-blue color. Howlite is often used as a cheap substitute for Turquoise, and some dishonest dealers label dyed Howlite as Turquoise without informing their sellers about this.

Howlite is named for its discoverer, Henry How, a Canadian geologist from Nova Scotia.

Crystal Forms & Aggregates

In large nodules and masses, and in fragments of these. Nodules often resemble cauliflower heads. Crystals, which are tabular, are very small and usually clustered together. They are found in only one region in the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia, where they form on large nodules. Also scaly and earthy.

Other ID Marks

May fluoresce cream-yellow to white in shortwave ultraviolet light.

Complex Tests

Soluble in hydrochloric acid

Striking Features

Formation habits and specific localities

Environment

Borax evaporite deposits in dry lakes and in sedimentary clay.

Uses

The attractive intersecting veins in Howlite make it useful as an ornamental stone. It is used as gemstone for beads and is often tumbled and sold to amateur collectors. When dyed blue it is used as an inexpensive substitute for Turquoise.

Noteworthy Localities

Howlite occurs at many evaporation deposits in southern California as huge nodules. Notable areas include Tick Canyon (near Saugus), Lang, Los Angeles Co.; Dagget, San Bernardino Co.; Death Valley, Inyo Co; and Boron, in the Kramer District, San Bernardino Co. Howlite also occurs in Nova Scotia, Canada, in Bras D'Or Lake off Cape Breton Island; and near Windsor, Hants Co. Both these localities are known for their tiny tabular crystals on large nodules, and they are the only occurrences to date where visually crystallized examples of this mineral occur.

Other significant Howlite localities are the Muddy Mountains, Clark Co., Nevada; and the Bigadic Mine, Marmara Region, Turkey.