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corundum
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Corundum
Native aluminium oxide and the hardest naturally occurring mineral known, apart from diamond (corundum rates 9 on the Mohs scale of hardness); lack of cleavage also increases its durability. Its crystals are barrel-shaped prisms of the trigonal system. Varieties of gem-quality corundum are ruby (red) and sapphire (any colour other than red, usually blue). Poorer-quality and synthetic corundum is used in industry, for example as an abrasive.
Corundum forms in silica-poor igneous and metamorphic rocks. It is a constituent of emery, which is metamorphosed bauxite.
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