Learning mineral identification is like learning to cook. You begin by following step-by-step
procedures and looking up a lot of things. But after a while you notice regularities, become
familiar with the usual suspects, make some productive mistakes, and get better at it until it
becomes easy and fun.
Another way mineral identification is like cooking is that professionals can go to school, learn to
use expensive equipment and master the subject fully, yet amateurs can handle nearly all the
common possibilities using just a few simple tools.
The first thing to do is to observe and test your mineral. (Review "What Is a Mineral?" for what
exactly a mineral is.) Use the largest piece you can find, and if you have several pieces, make
sure sure that they are all the same mineral. Examine your mineral for all of the following
properties, writing down the answers. After that you'll be ready to take your information to the
right place.
Step 2: Luster
Luster is the way a mineral reflects light and the first key step in mineral identification. Look for luster on
a fresh surface. The three major types of luster are metallic, glassy (vitreous) and dull. A luster between
metallic and glassy is called adamantine, and a luster between glassy and dull is called resinous or waxy.
See the gallery of mineral lusters for some examples and further explanation.
Step 3: Hardness
Step 4: Color
Color is important in mineral identification, but it can be a complicated subject. Experts use
color all the time because they have learned the usual colors and the usual exceptions for
common minerals. If you're a beginner, pay close attention to color but do not rely on it. First of
all, be sure you aren't looking at a weathered or tarnished surface, and examine your specimen in
good light.
Color is a fairly reliable indicator in the opaque and metallic mineralsfor instance the blue of
the opaque mineral lazurite or the brass-yellow of the metallic mineral pyrite.
In the translucent or transparent minerals, color is usually the result of a chemical impurity and
should not be the only thing you use. For instance, pure quartz is clear or white, but quartz can
have many other colors.
Try to be precise with color. Is it a pale or deep shade? Does it resemble the color of another
common object, like bricks or blueberries? Is it even or mottled? Is there one pure color or a
range of shades?
If you have an ultraviolet light, this is the time to see if the mineral has a fluorescent color. Make
note if it displays any other special optical effects.
Step 5: Streak
Streak is the color of the finely crushed mineral. Streak is somewhat more reliable than color and
is essential for a few minerals. You'll need a streak plate or something like it. A broken kitchen
tile or even a handy sidewalk can do. Scratch your mineral across the streak plate with a
scribbling motion. (Learn more about streak)
Mineral Streak
A mineral's streak is the color it has when ground to a powder. Some minerals that occur in a
range of colors always have the same streak, thus streak is considered a more stable indicator.
The great majority of minerals have a white streak, but there are a few well-known minerals for
which the streak is an important property.
The simplest way to make a powder is to grind the mineral on a small rectangular piece of
unglazed ceramic called a streak plate. Streak plates have a Mohs hardness around 7, but be sure
to check your streak plate against a piece of quartz (hardness 7) because some are softer and
some harder. The streak plates shown here have a hardness of 7.5. An old kitchen tile or even a
sidewalk can also serve as a streak plate. Mineral streaks can usually be wiped off easily with a
fingertip.
Photo (c) 2011 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
A good knowledge of crystals is very helpful once you're past the beginner stage, but often
minerals do not display any crystal faces, so for simplicity's sake we'll ignore it. For beginners, a
mineral's crystal form is less important than its cleavage (see the next step). When you're ready
to learn this aspect of minerals, you'll want a book.
One thing even beginners can do, though, is to observe a mineral's habit, the general form it
takes. There are more than 20 different terms describing habitsee most of them illustrated in
the Mineral Habits Gallery.
Mineral Habits
By Andrew Alden, About.com Guide
Habits are the distinctive form that minerals may take in different geologic settings, for instance when
growing in a free space or in a particular environment. Often a mineral's habit is a strong clue to its
identity. Here are examples of some of the most useful mineral habits.
Images 1-12 of 23
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Amygdaloidal Habit
Acicular Habit Bladed Habit
Banded Habit
Habits are the distinctive form that minerals may take in different geologic settings, for instance when
growing in a free space or in a particular environment. Often a mineral's habit is a strong clue to its
identity. Here are examples of some of the most useful mineral habits.
Images 13-23 of 23
Enter Gallery
PreviousNext
Rhombohedral Habit
Reniform Habit Rosette Habit
Photo (c) 2011 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Cleavage is the way a mineral breaks. Many minerals break along flat planes, or cleavages
some in only one direction (like mica), others in two directions (like feldspar), and some in three
directions (like calcite) or more (like fluorite). Some minerals, like quartz, have no cleavage.
Cleavage is a profound property that results from a mineral's molecular structure, and cleavage is
present even when the mineral doesn't form good crystals. Cleavage can also be described as
perfect, good or poor.
Fracture is breakage that is not flat. The two main kinds of fracture are conchoidal (shell-shaped,
as in quartz) and uneven. Metallic minerals may have a hackly (jagged) fracture. A mineral may
have good cleavage in one or two directions but fracture in another direction.
To determine cleavage and fracture, you'll need a rock hammer and a safe place to use it on
minerals. A magnifier is also handy, but not required. Carefully break the mineral and observe
the shapes and angles of the pieces. It may break in sheets (one cleavage), splinters or prisms
(two cleavages), cubes or rhombs (three cleavages) or something else.
Step 8: Magnetism
Photo (c) 2011 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Magnetism is a distinctive property in a few minerals. Magnetite is the prime example, but a few
other minerals may be weakly attracted by a magnet, notably chromite (a black oxide) and
pyrrhotite (a bronze sulfide). Use a strong magnet. The magnets I use came from the corners of
an old plastic shower curtain. Another way to test magnetism is to see if the specimen attracts a
compass needle.
Photo (c) 2011 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Taste is definitive for halite (rock salt), of course, but a few other evaporite minerals also have
distinctive tastes. Just touch your tongue to a fresh face of the mineral and be ready to spitafter
all it's called taste, not flavor. Don't worry about taste if you don't live in an area with these
minerals.
Fizz means the effervescent reaction of certain carbonate minerals to the acid test. For this test,
vinegar will do. (Learn more about the acid test)
Heft is how heavy a mineral feels in the hand, an informal sense of density. Most minerals are
about three times as dense as water, that is, they have a specific gravity of about 3. Make note of
a mineral that is noticeably light or heavy for its size. Galena, on the right, is distinctly heavy.
Sulfides and oxides tend to be dense.
You don't always need to do these tests, but remember them for the times they're called for.
Photo (c) 2011 Andrew Alden, licensed to About.com (fair use policy)
Now you are ready for mineral identification. Once you have observed and noted these mineral
properties, you can take your information to a book or to an online resource. Start with my table
of the rock-forming minerals, because these are the most common and the ones you should learn
first. Each mineral's name is linked to a good photograph and notes to help you confirm the
identification. If your mineral has metallic luster, go to my Minerals with Metallic Luster gallery
to see the most likely minerals in this group. If your mineral is not one of these, try the sources in
the Mineral Identification Guides category.
If you find yourself getting more interested in this subject, you'll benefit from a good book on
rocks and minerals. An old one is as good as a new one in many respects, and having two or
three books is better than having just one. Two of the books shown in the photo are ones I bought
used, and I have several more besides these.
This table lists the most important features of the basic rock-forming minerals.
Luster, the way a mineral reflects light, is the first thing to observe in a mineral. Luster can be
bright or dull (see the major types here), but the most basic division among the various types of
luster is thisdoes it look like a metal or not? The metallic-looking minerals are a relatively
small and distinctive group, worth mastering before you approach the nonmetallic minerals.
Of around 50 metallic minerals, just a few make up the great majority of specimens. This gallery
includes their color, streak, Mohs hardness, other distinguishing characteristics and chemical
formula. Streak, the color of the powdered mineral, is a truer indication of color than the surface
appearance, which can be affected by tarnish and stains (learn more about streak here).
The great majority of minerals with metallic luster are sulfide or oxide minerals.
Pyrite Crystal
Forms
Brown Minerals
The most common and significant ones
mineral color
mineral identification
rock collecting
Brown is a common color for rocks in general at the Earth's surface. It may take careful observation to
evaluate a brown mineral, and color may be the least important thing to see. Moreover, brown is a
mongrel color that blends into red, green, yellow, white and black. Look at a brown mineral in good
light, making sure to inspect a fresh surface, and ask yourself exactly what kind of brown it is. Determine
the mineral's luster and be ready to do hardness tests, too. Finally, know something about the rock that
the mineral occurs in. Here are the most common possibilities. The first fourclays, two iron oxide
minerals, and sulfidesaccount for nearly all occurrences; the rest are presented in alphabetical order.
Clays
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Hematite
The most common iron oxide, hematite ranges from red and earthy, through brown, to black and
crystalline. In every form it takes, hematite has a red streak. It may also be slightly magnetic. Suspect it
wherever a brown-black mineral appears in sedimentary or low-grade metasedimentary rocks. Luster
dull to semimetallic; hardness 1 to 6.
Goethite
Goethite is fairly common, but seldom concentrated in bulk form. It's much harder than clay, has a
yellowish brown streak and is well developed where iron minerals have weathered. "Bog iron" is
typically goethite. Luster dull to semimetallic; hardness around 5.
Sulfide Minerals
Amber
A fossil tree resin rather than a true mineral, amber is restricted to certain mudstones and ranges in
color from honey to the dark brown of bottle glass. It's lightweight, like plastic, and it often contains
bubbles, sometimes fossils like insects. It will melt and burn in a flame. Luster resinous; hardness less
than 3.
Andalusite
A sign of high-temperature metamorphism, andalusite may be pink or green, even white, as well as
brown. It usually occurs in stubby crystals in schist, with square cross sections that may display a
crosslike pattern (chiastolite). Luster glassy; hardness 7.5.
Axinite
This odd boron-bearing silicate mineral is more readily found in rock shops than in the field, but you
might see it in metamorphic rocks near granite intrusions. Its lilac-brown color and flat bladed crystals
with striations are distinctive. Luster glassy; hardness around 7.
Cassiterite
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Copper
Copper may be reddish brown due to impurities. It occurs in metamorphic rocks and in hydrothermal
veins near volcanic intrusions. Copper should bend like the metal it is, and it has a distinctive streak.
Luster metallic; hardness 3.
Corundum
Its extreme hardness is the surest sign of corundum, along with its occurrence in high-grade
metamorphic rocks and pegmatites in six-sided crystals. Its color ranges widely around brown and
includes the gemstones sapphire and ruby. Rough cigar-shaped crystals are available in any rock shop.
Luster adamantine; hardness 9.
Green Minerals
The most common and significant ones
mineral color
mineral identification
rock collecting
Green and greenish rocks get their color from green minerals, but a lot depends on the type of rock:
igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks each have their own set of green minerals. It
will help if you know how to distinguish those major rock classes as well as "How to Look at a Rock." But
first, be sure you're looking at a fresh surface! Don't let a coat of green algae fool you. Green minerals
can be hard to identify until you've learned something about the most common ones. Here they are,
along with their usual luster and hardness. If your green or greenish mineral doesn't fit one of these,
there are many more possibilities. Another tidbit: green colors usually arise from the presence of iron or
chromium and sometimes manganese.
Actinolite
A shiny medium-green mineral with many long, thin crystals is likely to be actinolite. Look for it
exclusively in metamorphic rocks, where it forms crystals in marble or is disseminated in greenstone. Its
color is from iron; the white variety without iron is tremolite. Luster glassy to pearly; hardness 56.
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Chlorite
Epidote
Epidote is common in medium-grade metamorphic rocks as well as late-stage igneous rocks such as
pegmatites. It's typically a pistachio or avocado green when it occurs in the massive formcrystals have
a wider color range. Luster dull to pearly; hardness 67.
Glauconite
This is the usual green mineral found in greenish marine sandstones and the gardening amendment
known as greensand. It's a mica mineral, but because it forms by alteration of other micas it never
makes crystals. You'll generally see it in the form of a blue-green color rather than a separate mineral.
Luster dull; hardness 2.
Jade (Jadeite/Nephrite)
Few minerals excite the rockhound like jade, but it can be hard to distinguish. Two minerals, jadeite and
nephrite, are recognized as true jade. Both occur where serpentinite is found but form at higher
pressures and temperatures. Nephrite (a microcrystalline form of actinolite) has a hardness of 56;
jadeite (a sodium pyroxene mineral) has a hardness of 67.
Olivine
Dark primary igneous rocks (basalt, gabbro and so on) are the exclusive home of olivine. It's usually
found in small clear olive-green grains and stubby crystals. A rock made entirely of olivine is called
dunite. Olivine breaks down at the Earth's surface by chemical weathering. It would rather live deep
beneath the Earth's crust, where it is most stable. Olivine gives the rock peridotite its name, peridot
being the gem variety of olivine. Luster glassy; hardness 67.
Prehnite
Rocks metamorphosed by hot-water solutions may have prehnite crusts and botryoidal clusters along
with pockets of zeolite minerals. Prehnite has a light "bottle-green" color and is quite translucent. Any
rock shop will have prehnite specimens you can learn this mineral from. Luster glassy; hardness 66.
Serpentine
Serpentine is a metamorphic mineral that occurs in some marbles but more often keeps to itself in the
distinctive rock serpentinite. It typically occurs in shiny, mottled, streamlined shapes and never in
crystals (except sometimes as asbestos fibers). Its color ranges from white to black but is mostly dark
olive-green. Serpentine is a sign of high-magnesium (typically deep-sea) lavas that have been thoroughly
altered by hydrothermal activity. Luster greasy; hardness 25.
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Several other minerals are typically green, but they aren't widespread and are quite distinctive. These
include chrysocolla, diopside, dioptase, fuchsite, several of the garnets, malachite, phengite, and
variscite. You'll see them in rock shops and mineral shows more than in the field.
Diagenetic Minerals
Minerals typically formed in diagenetic settings
diagenetic minerals
sedimentary rocks
These minerals form near the surface during the consolidation of sedimentary rocks.
Barite Cuprite Malachite Smithsonite
Evaporitic Minerals
Minerals typically formed in evaporitic settings
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Rock and Minerals
Crystal Minerals
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These minerals form during injection of hot fluids into existing rocks.
Bornite Feldspar Molybdenite Silver
mineral identification
metamorphic minerals
These minerals form in solid rocks under high temperatures and pressures.
Amphiboles Corundum Graphite Prehnite Serpentine
Chlorite
Primary Minerals
Minerals typically formed in primary melts
mineral identification
primary minerals
Feldspar