Zircon Resources

• Zircon is a mineral that is often found as small crystals within igneous rocks and some metamorphic ones. The mineral is scarcely distributed throughout the rock it is found within, rarely making up more than one percent of the total mass. The rock is found in many parts of the world and can be many different colors.

Location

• Zircon can be found in many different geographic localities. The most important, in terms of industry, deposits are found in the sands of Australia's Queensland. Other deposits include the Alta Fjord and Seiland Island in Finland, the Tyrol in Austria, the Ural Mountains in Russia and the Eifel Mountains in Germany. It can also be found in east Asia, in countries such as Sri Lanka, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Other significant deposits have been found in Madagascar and Canada.

Colors

• Zircon comes in a variety of colors. These include yellow, brown, orange, red and blue. The mineral can also be found as a pale grey, pale yellow and a colorless variety that resembles a diamond in appearance.

Uses

• Zircon's variety of colors, hardness and luster make it sought after as a gemstone. Even though it is found in a variety of colors, when seen as a gemstone the color it displays is usually the result of a heat treatment. Zircon stone expresses a unique characteristic in that heat treatments can deepen its color and reduce its luster. This change can be replaced by subjecting the stone to a second heat treatment. While often confused with cubic zirconium because of its ability to simulate a diamond and similar name, the two are in no way related. Further, while cubic zirconium is a synthetic creation, zircon has value in its own right.

Ores

• Zircon is an important ore of zirconium, the rare element hafnium and, in some locations, the radioactive element thorium.

History

• Zircon is named from the Arabic terms for "gold" and "colored," referencing one of the mineral's many naturally occurring colors. As a gemstone it was considered a stone of purity and innocence and used in an amulet to protect travelers from harm on the road. Other cultures have held that a Zircon stone losing its luster warned of coming danger and that someone who wore the stone would receive wisdom, wealth and honor.