White Lamellar Calcite

Calcite forms crystals of very different shapes: rhombohedral, prismatic, tabular, etc. There are also cases in which it occurs as granular, lamellar, parallel or columnar aggregates. Often colourless or whitish, calcite can also form crystals of various colours: pinkish, yellow, brown or green. It has a vitreous to pearly lustre, with semi-hard, light crystals, soluble in cold hydrochloric acid.

Calcite is typically sedimentary in formation, of chemical or organic formation. It can sometimes also have a metamorphic origin or form in hydrothermal veins, and rarely a magmatic one.

It is used in the chemical, metallurgical, in building and in sculpture.