Next in our journey through the silicates is the cyclosilicate. This silicate uses the same building blocks as the previous silicates...except this time there are more of them and in a complete ring formation. As we continue through the silicates you will notice the structure gets more and more complicated, but every silicate is still made from the original units known as tetrahedrons (SiO4)
A good example is the mineral Benitonite (BaTi(Si3O9))
-3 ring formation
Or an Emerald Be3Al2(SiO3)8
-6 ring formation
Fun Fact:
Emeralds are much more rare than diamonds....yet diamonds are still more expensive.
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