Most gem-quality goshenite crystals form in cavities below Earth’s surface, on the fringes of a granitic magma body in its late stages of crystallization. The cavities provide open space for the uninterrupted growth of crystals. The late-stage timing is when beryllium-rich fluids are exiting the magma body. An abundant supply of beryllium is needed to form goshenite, a variety of beryl, a beryllium-rich mineral.

Metamorphic rocks are another host of goshenite. Good crystals are sometimes found in, or adjacent to, fractures mineralized by hydrothermal activity. Small quantities are sometimes found in the mica schists of convergent plate boundaries.

If rocks containing goshenite are exposed by erosion and weathering, the exceptional hardness of goshenite (7.5 to 8 on the Mohs hardness scale), along with its resistance to weathering, will enable it to persist in overlying soils and stream sediments. Much gem-quality goshenite is found as waterworn pebbles in stream sediments. Its presence there suggests that a primary deposit is located upstream.

Goshenite Crystal: A crystal of beryl (goshenite) with albite, cleavelandite and quartz. Collected from the Chamachhu Pegmatites, Haramosh Mountains, Pakistan.