Hubnerite Gemstone: Properties, Meanings, Value & More

Hubnerite (also spelled huebnerite or hübnerite) is a commonly reddish-brown, sometimes iridescent wolframite group mineral. Outside a few industrial uses, the stone isn’t well-known outside of collector circles.

Rarity-wise, hubnerite is only somewhat rare. Cut hubnerite gemstones are only rare because of low demand — gem-quality material isn’t that scarce.

Ready to know more? Consider this your hub for hubnerite. We’ve used our expertise from years in the mineral world to bring you this comprehensive guide to hubnerite’s history, uses, properties, prices, and more.

Pictured above: Large, remarkable hubnerite crystal cluster perched on quartz | Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

About Hubnerite Stone

Hubnerite is a rare, often brownish semi-precious gemstone more known among mineral collectors. Besides the alternate spellings hübnerite and huebnerite, other monikers for the stone include:

• Megabasite

• Blumite

• Manganowolframite

• Manganese tungstate

Many of hubnerite’s optical properties are unique and impressive: its high dispersion (colorful sparkle), refractive index (more light reflected), pleochroism (different colors at different viewing angles), and sometimes diamond-like luster.

Industrially, what is hubnerite used for?.

Hubnerite Uses

Hubnerite is a minor tungsten ore, but it’s still important because there aren’t many tungsten minerals. Some main uses of tungsten today are:

• Electrodes

• Cathode-ray tubes (CRTs)

• Medical equipment (e.g. radiation shielding, CT scans)

• Light bulb filaments

• Heavy metal alloys (e.g. high-speed steel used in cutting tools)

• Electrical wires

• X-ray tubes

• Military weapons (e.g. kinetic energy penetrators)

• Jewelry (e.g. tungsten carbide rings)

• Aerospace & automotive parts

• Permanent magnets

• Mining & construction equipment

• Arc welding

• Nanowires

Additionally, researchers have studied hubnerite for various purposes, evaluating its chlorination capabilities for extracting metals, its accuracy for uranium-lead dating, and its ability to be synthesized.

Hubnerite Specifications and Characteristics

As a manganese tungstate mineral, hubnerite’s formula is often written as MnWO4 but the formula approved by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is Mn2+(WO4).

Hubnerite is the manganese endmember of a series with the iron endmember ferberite, an iron tungstate (formula FeWO­4). Specimens classified as hubnerite in the series may differ in some properties based on how much iron they have.

Comparing their rarity, ferberite is more common than hubnerite because it’s easier to substitute iron for manganese than manganese for iron when minerals form.

Both hubnerite and ferberite are in the wolframite group. Usually, individual minerals referred to as “wolframite” have a composition between hubnerite and ferberite. All wolframite group minerals have the same crystal structure and monoclinic symmetry.

The other wolframite group minerals are:

• Heftetjernite — Scandium tantalate, ScTaO4

• Huanzalaite — Magnesium tungstate Mg(WO4); Magnesium analogue of hubnerite

• Krasnoselskite — Cobalt tungstate, CoWO4

• Nioboheftetjernite — Scandium niobate, ScNbO4

• Rossovskyite — Iron niobate, Fe3+NbO4

• Sanmartinite — Zinc tungstate, Zn(WO4)

Back to the mineral at hand. Looking at hubnerite shapes, the crystals may be prismatic, columnar, flattened, tabular, or bladed, often with elongated striations. Many hubnerite crystals form together to make parallel or radiating clusters.

The mineral may also occur as grainy masses or lamellar aggregates.

Twinning is common in hubnerite, usually simple contact twinning but sometimes interpenetrant or lamellar twinning.

Hubnerite mineral data listed:

• Mohs hardness: 4-4.5, increases with more iron

• Color: Reddish-brown, yellowish-brown, dark brown, blackish-brown, black; Rarely red; Sometimes white or gray with deep red internal reflections under reflected light; Sometimes color-banded

• Crystal structure: Monoclinic

• Luster: Submetallic, metallic, resinous, or adamantine

• Transparency: Transparent to opaque

• Refractive index: 2.17-2.32

• Density: 7.12-7.18, increases with more iron

• Cleavage: Perfect on {010}

• Fracture: Uneven/irregular; Parting on {100} and {102}

• Streak: Yellow, reddish-brown, black, or greenish-gray

• Luminescence: None

• Pleochroism: Present, varies by source and amount of iron; Bright yellow or green or reddish-orange to greenish-yellow or yellowish-brown or red-orange or red to green or brick red or red

• Birefringence: 0.13

• Dispersion: Moderate to strong

• Optical phenomena: Sometimes iridescence from internal reflections

Pictured above: Large, lustrous black hubnerite crystal from Peru | Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Hubnerite Meaning and History

Not only does hubnerite have multiple spellings, it’s also had many names since its discovery. In fact, the first name for the mineral was entirely different.

The earliest reference to the mineral was in 1852. German mineralogist August Breithaupt reported on a mineral similar to wolframite but with more basic elements. He called it “megabasite” from the Greek terms for “greater” and “base.”

Next, German geologist and ornithologist Karl Theodor Liebe called the mineral “blumit” in 1863, honoring German mineralogist Johann Reinhard Blum.

Finally in 1865, Prussian-American mining engineer and assayer Eugene N. Riotte coined the name “hübnerite,” to honor Saxon metallurgist Friedrich Adolph Hübner, in hubnerite’s first official description. Some reports spelled it as hubnerite.

Riotte’s description was based on specimens he and Hübner analyzed from the Erie and Enterprize veins in the Ellsworth Mine in Nevada, USA, now the mineral’s type locality.

Before this, the only tungsten minerals known were stolzite, scheelite, and wolframite.

By the 1920s, the spelling huebnerite was used more often — seen on page 157 of Esper S. Larsen’s US Geological Survey report “The microscopic determination of the nonopaque minerals” from 1921 — but the umlaut version (hübnerite) is used in more official modern references.

Hubnerite Healing Properties

As an often brownish healing stone, hubnerite’s metaphysical properties parallel the grounding and protective properties of other brown gemstones. Similarly, hubnerite is used as a root chakra stone.

Beyond that, what are the healing properties of hubnerite?

Physical Healing

According to crystal healers, hubnerite’s healing properties in the physical realm include treating issues related to:

• Vision

• Immune system function

• Blood circulation

• Spinal support

• Strength

• Flexibility

• Fatigue

Emotional Healing

Emotionally, hubnerite is believed to improve:

• Intuition

• Energy rooting

• Self-awareness

• Communication

• Open-mindedness

• Decision-making

Pictured above: Deep red hubnerite crystals on clear quartz needles from Peru | Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Hubnerite Gemstone Properties

Hubnerite is fairly rare as a gemstone, but the criteria for determining its value is similar to other gemstones. The value of hubnerite depends on its color, cut, clarity/transparency, and carat weight.

Color

Many hubnerite stones are dark, near brown to black or reddish-brown. Fully red hubnerites are rare and sought-after, along with lighter colored or iridescent specimens.

Another notable part of hubnerite’s coloring is its streak, meaning its color in powdered form. Most minerals have white streaks, and some have two potential streak colors. But hubnerite has four potential streak colors!

Cut

Facetable material isn’t exceedingly rare, but it’s not mined often since there isn’t much consumer demand. Still, you can find faceted hubnerite gemstones in small sizes.

Most hubnerite for sale is available rough (uncut).

Clarity and Transparency

Clarity describes the degree of visible inclusions in a gem, which can lower its transparency and value.

Common flaws in hubnerite include fluid inclusions (sometimes two-phase vapor-liquid), vapor inclusions, pyrite, and galena-filled cracks.

Hubnerite is also sometimes found as an inclusion in quartz and scheelite.

Many hubnerites are opaque or near-opaque from being dark-colored and/or having higher iron content, but lighter crystals with higher transparency are more valuable.

Carat Weight and Size

Most faceted hubnerite gemstones are small, generally under 1 carat. Larger facetable or faceted hubnerites tend to be darker and more opaque.

You can find rough hubnerite in fairly large sizes, often attached to quartz.

Hubnerite Formation and Sources

Hubnerite usually forms through metamorphism or a hydrothermal alteration process formerly called pneumatolysis.

What type of rock is hubnerite found in? Most hubnerite minerals are found in hydrothermal veins (often with quartz) or altered greisens, with some found in granite pegmatites and alluvial deposits.

Besides quartz, other commonly associated minerals found with hubnerite are:

• Arsenopyrite

• Cassiterite

• Fluorite

• Galena

• Molybdenite

• Muscovite

• Pyrite

• Rhodochrosite

• Scheelite

• Sphalerite

• Stolzite

• Topaz

• Tourmaline

Geographically, where is hubnerite found?

Mining Locations

For transparent hubnerite crystals, Peru is the best known source. Argentina is another important hubnerite source.

Other notable sources of hubnerite include:

• Australia

• Czechoslovakia

• France

• USA (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, South Dakota, Washington)

Pictured above: Deep red, remarkable hubnerite crystal on clear quartz crystal matrix | Image credit: Rob Lavinsky, iRocks.com – CC-BY-SA-3.0

Hubnerite Price and Value

Given their scarcity on the market, faceted hubnerite gemstones can be pricey, but they vary a bit. The price per carat of faceted hubnerites ranges from about $30 to over $3,000 per carat, but since most are under 1 carat, the total cost per stone ranges from $30 to $340.

The priciest hubnerite specimens are large, translucent, well-formed crystals, often from Peru. Most are close to black and attached to clear quartz. These go for roughly $400 to $24,000.

Mid-range specimens are generally smaller hubnerite crystals on quartz, ranging from around $40 to $250. You can also find single, attractive hubnerite crystal specimens for about $200 to $450.

The most affordable hubnerite specimens are small and opaque, ranging from $10 to $30.

Hubnerite Care and Maintenance

Firstly, hubnerite has a slight toxicity risk from containing tungsten; however, scientific literature states tungsten compounds aren’t particularly dangerous for humans.

Proper gemstone care is important for hubnerite; its perfect cleavage and relatively low hardness make it susceptible to sharp breaks and scratches.

Hubnerite jewelry should have protective settings.

Store hubnerite away from other minerals. Only clean it with a soft toothbrush, mild soap, and warm water.

Ready to Harmonize with Hubnerite?

Hubnerite isn’t well-known, but its rarity in the mainstream just adds to its unique allure. With earthy, grounding tones and fascinating history, not to mention stunning optical properties, there’s plenty to love about the humble hubnerite.

Buy hubnerite and other lesser known gemstones today!