What is Olivine? (the mineral)

Olivine is a green rock that is one of the most common minerals on the Earth’s surface and the most abundant mineral found in the Earth’s mantle. The gem variety of olivine, known as peridot, is one of the few gems that always exists in the same range of color: a beautiful light to deep green. Olivine also occurs in many different kinds of meteorites, making it one of the first minerals to form at the birth of our solar system, over 4½ billion years ago. In a sense, one could say that olivine is the earliest green product that Mother Nature had to offer.