51 days have passed since the Cumbre Vieja volcano, on La Palma, began its eruption. However, it is still spewing lava, volcanic material, and gases. In fact, among these volcanic materials a green gem is appearing, often confused with emeralds, which is called olivine. But what is it exactly? Is it useful for more than just making jewelry?
In addition to jewelery and costume jewelery, olivine has other functions. But let’s go to get to know these igneous rocks better. Because yes, this mineral is part of the result of the volcanic eruption on La Palma; but it is not just a rock. And it is that olivine is a set of rock constituent minerals, although this name is mainly given to the forsterite and the fayalita.
Although the color can sometimes be very similar to that of emeralds, they have nothing to do with it. In fact, while emeralds are highly prized minerals partly because of their scarcity; the case of olivine is different. For example, olivine rich in magnesium is the main component of the Earth’s upper mantle.
Olivine may contain iron, magnesium, manganese, or nickel, although also other metals. However, its green color, although similar to that of emeralds, can actually vary a lot depending on the concentration of iron it has. An olivine with little iron can have greenish and light colors while if it contains more it can be darker and appear the color of brown or black.
Olivine, perfect for purifying iron
As we said before, in addition to jewelry and costume jewelery; olivine is used for other things. Mainly to purify iron. And it is that as we have seen, the composition of this mineral can contain iron. In addition, depending on the color of the rock we will know if it has more or less of this metal.
Therefore, we can melt it to get iron. That is, if the olivine is subjected to high temperatures, the metal separates from the rest of the components and produces what we know as the human waste (the other elements that make up the ore). This is used a lot in mining.
In short, the La Palma volcano is showing us live what nature is like. Yes, it can be devastating to the limit; but also leaves behind minerals that we would not otherwise have been aware of existed. And olivine is one of these rocks that we now know thanks to Cumbre Vieja.