Lazurite is a deep blue, copper-bearing mineral that is best known as one of the main components of lapis lazuli, a highly valued gemstone historically prized for its rich color.

Lazurite is the essential ingredient of lapis lazuli and is the mineral that gives it the blue color. The best quality material contains less calcite and pyrite. Lazurite is a sodium, calcium, aluminosilicate mineral that contains sulfur: the color is due to a charge transfer between sulfur atoms.

It has been mined for more than 6,000 years in the lapis lazuli district of Badakhshan. It has been used as a pigment in painting and cloth dyeing since at least the 6th or 7th century. It is also mined at Lake Baikal in Siberia; Mount Vesuvius; Burma; Canada; and the United States.

The name is from the Persian lajvard for blue.