Almandine occurs rather abundantly in the gem gravels of
Sri Lanka, whence it has sometimes been called "Ceylon ruby". When the color inclines to a violet tint, the stone is often called Syriam garnet, a name said to be taken from
Syriam, an ancient town of
Pegu (now part of
Myanmar). Large deposits of fine almandine-garnets were found, some years ago, in the
Northern Territory of
Australia, and were at first taken for rubies and thus they were known in trade for some time afterwards as Australian rubies. Almandine is widely distributed. Fine
rhombic dodecahedra occur in the
schistose rocks of the
Zillertal, in
Tyrol, and are sometimes cut and polished. An almandine in which the ferrous oxide is replaced partly by
magnesia is found at a place once known as Luisenfeld (then
German East Africa), now in
Tanzania. In the
United States there are many localities which yield almandine. Fine crystals of almandine embedded in
mica-schist occur near
Wrangell in
Alaska. The coarse varieties of almandine are often crushed for use as an
abrasive agent. ==Cultural significance==