Properties
| Category | Oxide minerals Spinel group Spinel structural group |
|---|---|
| Formula | MgAl; 2O; 4 |
| Crystal system | Cubic |
| Color | Various: red, pink, blue, lavender / violet, dark green, brown, black, clear |
| Crystal habit | Octahedral or flat triangular plates caused by twinning |
| Cleavage | None |
| Fracture | Conchoidal |
| Mohs scale hardness | 7.5–8.0 |
| Luster | Vitreous |
| Streak | White |
| Diaphaneity | Transparent to opaque |
| Specific gravity | (Depending on the composition) The rare Zn-rich spinel can be as high as 4.40, otherwise it averages from 3.58 to 3.61. |
From the Wikipedia article
Spinel is the magnesium/aluminium member of the larger spinel group of minerals. It has the formula MgAl2O4 in the cubic crystal system. The name comes from the Latin word spinella, a diminutive form of spine, in reference to its pointed crystals.
Source
Source record: crystal-compendium/spinel/minerals.json. Fetched from English Wikipedia by the operator 2 October 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinel — revision id 1377591394. Text and properties from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.