Also known as “Spessartine” this lively garnet is usually orange to reddish-brown and is somewhat rare. Most spessartites especially orange ones, have eye-visible inclusions.
Manganese is the element in Spessartiet that produces the orange color. Spessartite has been found in Brazil, Burma, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and the USA (San Diego County, CA). The most important sources today are Nigeria and northeast Namibia. Spessartites are not enhanced by any method. Hardness is 7 – 7.5 on the Mohs scale.