Portal:Minerals
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The Minerals Portal
In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.
The geological definition of mineral normally excludes compounds that occur only in living organisms. However, some minerals are often biogenic (such as calcite) or organic compounds in the sense of chemistry (such as mellite). Moreover, living organisms often synthesize inorganic minerals (such as hydroxylapatite) that also occur in rocks.
The concept of mineral is distinct from rock, which is any bulk solid geologic material that is relatively homogeneous at a large enough scale. A rock may consist of one type of mineral or may be an aggregate of two or more different types of minerals, spacially segregated into distinct phases.
Some natural solid substances without a definite crystalline structure, such as opal or obsidian, are more properly called mineraloids. If a chemical compound occurs naturally with different crystal structures, each structure is considered a different mineral species. Thus, for example, quartz and stishovite are two different minerals consisting of the same compound, silicon dioxide. (Full article...)
Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization. (Full article...)
Selected articles
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Image 1Galena with minor pyrite
Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.
Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms. It is often associated with the minerals sphalerite, calcite and fluorite. (Full article...) -
Image 2
Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals, usually hydroxyapatite, fluorapatite and chlorapatite, with high concentrations of OH−, F− and Cl− ion, respectively, in the crystal. The formula of the admixture of the three most common endmembers is written as Ca10(PO4)6(OH,F,Cl)2, and the crystal unit cell formulae of the individual minerals are written as Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, Ca10(PO4)6F2 and Ca10(PO4)6Cl2.
The mineral was named apatite by the German geologist Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1786, although the specific mineral he had described was reclassified as fluorapatite in 1860 by the German mineralogist Karl Friedrich August Rammelsberg. Apatite is often mistaken for other minerals. This tendency is reflected in the mineral's name, which is derived from the Greek word ἀπατάω (apatáō), which means to deceive. (Full article...) -
Image 3
The mineral pyrite (/ˈpaɪraɪt/ PY-ryte), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula FeS2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.
Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue give it a superficial resemblance to gold, hence the well-known nickname of fool's gold. The color has also led to the nicknames brass, brazzle, and brazil, primarily used to refer to pyrite found in coal.
The name pyrite is derived from the Greek πυρίτης λίθος (pyritēs lithos), 'stone or mineral which strikes fire', in turn from πῦρ (pŷr), 'fire'. In ancient Roman times, this name was applied to several types of stone that would create sparks when struck against steel; Pliny the Elder described one of them as being brassy, almost certainly a reference to what is now called pyrite.
By Georgius Agricola's time, c. 1550, the term had become a generic term for all of the sulfide minerals. (Full article...) -
Image 4
Graphite (/ˈɡræfaɪt/) is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on a large scale (1.3 million metric tons per year in 2022) for uses in pencils, lubricants, and electrodes. Under high pressures and temperatures it converts to diamond. It is a good (but not excellent) conductor of both heat and electricity. (Full article...) -
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Mineralogy applies principles of chemistry, geology, physics and materials science to the study of minerals
Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization. (Full article...) -
Image 6
Crystal structure of table salt (sodium in purple, chlorine in green)
In crystallography, crystal structure is a description of ordered arrangement of atoms, ions, or molecules in a crystalline material. Ordered structures occur from intrinsic nature of constituent particles to form symmetric patterns that repeat along the principal directions of three-dimensional space in matter.
The smallest group of particles in material that constitutes this repeating pattern is unit cell of the structure. The unit cell completely reflects symmetry and structure of the entire crystal, which is built up by repetitive translation of unit cell along its principal axes. The translation vectors define the nodes of Bravais lattice.
The lengths of principal axes/edges, of unit cell and angles between them are lattice constants, also called lattice parameters or cell parameters. The symmetry properties of crystal are described byconcept of space groups. All possible symmetric arrangements of particles in three-dimensional space may be described by 230 space groups.
The crystal structure and symmetry play a critical role in determining many physical properties, such as cleavage, electronic band structure, and optical transparency. (Full article...) -
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Garnets ( /ˈɡɑːrnɪt/) are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives.
All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, but differ in chemical composition. The different species are pyrope, almandine, spessartine, grossular (varieties of which are hessonite or cinnamon-stone and tsavorite), uvarovite and andradite. The garnets make up two solid solution series: pyrope-almandine-spessartine (pyralspite), with the composition range [Mg,Fe,Mn]3Al2(SiO4)3; and uvarovite-grossular-andradite (ugrandite), with the composition range Ca3[Cr,Al,Fe]2(SiO4)3. (Full article...) -
Image 8
The diamond crystal structure belongs to the face-centered cubic lattice, with a repeated two-atom pattern.
In crystallography, a crystal system is a set of point groups (a group of geometric symmetries with at least one fixed point). A lattice system is a set of Bravais lattices. Space groups are classified into crystal systems according to their point groups, and into lattice systems according to their Bravais lattices. Crystal systems that have space groups assigned to a common lattice system are combined into a crystal family.
The seven crystal systems are triclinic, monoclinic, orthorhombic, tetragonal, trigonal, hexagonal, and cubic. Informally, two crystals are in the same crystal system if they have similar symmetries (though there are many exceptions). (Full article...) -
Image 9
Cinnabar (/ˈsɪnəˌbɑːr/; from Ancient Greek κιννάβαρι (kinnábari)), or cinnabarite (/ˌsɪnəˈbɑːraɪt/), also known as mercurblende is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury and is the historic source for the brilliant red or scarlet pigment termed vermilion and associated red mercury pigments.
Cinnabar generally occurs as a vein-filling mineral associated with volcanic activity and alkaline hot springs. The mineral resembles quartz in symmetry and it exhibits birefringence. Cinnabar has a mean refractive index near 3.2, a hardness between 2.0 and 2.5, and a specific gravity of approximately 8.1. The color and properties derive from a structure that is a hexagonal crystalline lattice belonging to the trigonal crystal system, crystals that sometimes exhibit twinning.
Cinnabar has been used for its color since antiquity in the Near East, including as a rouge-type cosmetic, in the New World since the Olmec culture, and in China since as early as the Yangshao culture, where it was used in coloring stoneware. In Roman times, cinnabar was highly valued as paint for walls, especially interiors, since it darkened when used outdoors due to exposure to sunlight.
Associated modern precautions for the use and handling of cinnabar arise from the toxicity of the mercury component, which was recognized as early as ancient Rome. (Full article...) -
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Micas (/ˈmaɪkəz/ MY-kəz) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is common in igneous and metamorphic rock and is occasionally found as small flakes in sedimentary rock. It is particularly prominent in many granites, pegmatites, and schists, and "books" (large individual crystals) of mica several feet across have been found in some pegmatites.
Micas are used in products such as drywalls, paints, fillers, especially in parts for automobiles, roofing and shingles, as well as in electronics. The mineral is used in cosmetics and food to add "shimmer" or "frost." (Full article...) -
Image 11Amethyst cluster from Artigas, Uruguay
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος amethystos from α- a-, "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) methysko / μεθώ metho (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. Ancient Greeks wore amethyst and carved drinking vessels from it in the belief that it would prevent intoxification.
Amethyst, a semiprecious stone, is often used in jewelry. (Full article...) -
Image 12The 423-carat (85 g) blue Logan Sapphire
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide (α-Al2O3) with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name sapphire is derived from the Latin word sapphirus, itself from the Greek word sappheiros (σάπφειρος), which referred to lapis lazuli. It is typically blue, but natural "fancy" sapphires also occur in yellow, purple, orange, and green colors; "parti sapphires" show two or more colors. Red corundum stones also occur, but are called rubies rather than sapphires. Pink-colored corundum may be classified either as ruby or sapphire depending on the locale. Commonly, natural sapphires are cut and polished into gemstones and worn in jewelry. They also may be created synthetically in laboratories for industrial or decorative purposes in large crystal boules. Because of the remarkable hardness of sapphires – 9 on the Mohs scale (the third hardest mineral, after diamond at 10 and moissanite at 9.5) – sapphires are also used in some non-ornamental applications, such as infrared optical components, high-durability windows, wristwatch crystals and movement bearings, and very thin electronic wafers, which are used as the insulating substrates of special-purpose solid-state electronics such as integrated circuits and GaN-based blue LEDs. Sapphire is the birthstone for September and the gem of the 45th anniversary. A sapphire jubilee occurs after 65 years. (Full article...) -
Image 13Brazilian trigonal hematite crystal
Hematite (/ˈhiːməˌtaɪt, ˈhɛmə-/), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of Fe
2O
3. It has the same crystal structure as corundum (Al
2O
3) and ilmenite (FeTiO
3). With this it forms a complete solid solution at temperatures above 950 °C (1,740 °F).
Hematite naturally occurs in black to steel or silver-gray, brown to reddish-brown, or red colors. It is mined as an important ore mineral of iron. It is electrically conductive. Hematite varieties include kidney ore, martite (pseudomorphs after magnetite), iron rose and specularite (specular hematite). While these forms vary, they all have a rust-red streak. Hematite is not only harder than pure iron, but also much more brittle. Maghemite is a polymorph of hematite (γ-Fe
2O
3) with the same chemical formula, but with a spinel structure like magnetite.
Large deposits of hematite are found in banded iron formations. Gray hematite is typically found in places that have still, standing water or mineral hot springs, such as those in Yellowstone National Park in North America. The mineral can precipitate in the water and collect in layers at the bottom of the lake, spring, or other standing water. Hematite can also occur in the absence of water, usually as the result of volcanic activity.
Clay-sized hematite crystals can also occur as a secondary mineral formed by weathering processes in soil, and along with other iron oxides or oxyhydroxides such as goethite, which is responsible for the red color of many tropical, ancient, or otherwise highly weathered soils. (Full article...) -
Image 14
Corundum is a crystalline form of aluminium oxide (Al2O3) typically containing traces of iron, titanium, vanadium, and chromium. It is a rock-forming mineral. It is a naturally transparent material, but can have different colors depending on the presence of transition metal impurities in its crystalline structure. Corundum has two primary gem varieties: ruby and sapphire. Rubies are red due to the presence of chromium, and sapphires exhibit a range of colors depending on what transition metal is present. A rare type of sapphire, padparadscha sapphire, is pink-orange.
The name "corundum" is derived from the Tamil-Dravidian word kurundam (ruby-sapphire) (appearing in Sanskrit as kuruvinda).
Because of corundum's hardness (pure corundum is defined to have 9.0 on the Mohs scale), it can scratch almost all other minerals. It is commonly used as an abrasive on sandpaper and on large tools used in machining metals, plastics, and wood. Emery, a variety of corundum with no value as a gemstone, is commonly used as an abrasive. It is a black granular form of corundum, in which the mineral is intimately mixed with magnetite, hematite, or hercynite.
In addition to its hardness, corundum has a density of 4.02 g/cm3 (251 lb/cu ft), which is unusually high for a transparent mineral composed of the low-atomic mass elements aluminium and oxygen. (Full article...) -
Image 15
A rock containing three crystals of pyrite (FeS2). The crystal structure of pyrite is primitive cubic, and this is reflected in the cubic symmetry of its natural crystal facets.
In crystallography, the cubic (or isometric) crystal system is a crystal system where the unit cell is in the shape of a cube. This is one of the most common and simplest shapes found in crystals and minerals.
There are three main varieties of these crystals:- Primitive cubic (abbreviated cP and alternatively called simple cubic)
- Body-centered cubic (abbreviated cI or bcc)
- Face-centered cubic (abbreviated cF or fcc)
Note: the term fcc is often used in synonym for the cubic close-packed or ccp structure occurring in metals. However, fcc stands for a face-centered-cubic Bravais lattice, which is not necessarily close-packed when a motif is set onto the lattice points. E.g. the diamond and the zincblende lattices are fcc but not close-packed.
Each is subdivided into other variants listed below. Although the unit cells in these crystals are conventionally taken to be cubes, the primitive unit cells often are not. (Full article...) -
Image 16
Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula CuAl6(PO4)4(OH)8·4H2O. It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone for millennia due to its hue.
Like most other opaque gems, turquoise has been devalued by the introduction of treatments, imitations, and synthetics into the market. The robin egg blue or sky blue color of the Persian turquoise mined near the modern city of Nishapur, Iran, has been used as a guiding reference for evaluating turquoise quality. (Full article...) -
Image 17
Beryl (/ˈbɛrəl/ BERR-əl) is a mineral composed of beryllium aluminium silicate with the chemical formula Be3Al2Si6O18. Well-known varieties of beryl include emerald and aquamarine. Naturally occurring hexagonal crystals of beryl can be up to several meters in size, but terminated crystals are relatively rare. Pure beryl is colorless, but it is frequently tinted by impurities; possible colors are green, blue, yellow, pink, and red (the rarest). It is an ore source of beryllium. (Full article...) -
Image 18
Kaolinite (/ˈkeɪ.ələˌnaɪt, -lɪ-/ KAY-ə-lə-nyte, -lih-; also called kaolin) is a clay mineral, with the chemical composition: Al2Si2O5(OH)4. It is a layered silicate mineral, with one tetrahedral sheet of silica (SiO4) linked through oxygen atoms to one octahedral sheet of alumina (AlO6).
Kaolinite is a soft, earthy, usually white, mineral (dioctahedral phyllosilicate clay), produced by the chemical weathering of aluminium silicate minerals like feldspar. It has a low shrink–swell capacity and a low cation-exchange capacity (1–15 meq/100 g).
Rocks that are rich in kaolinite, and halloysite, are known as kaolin (/ˈkeɪ.əlɪn/) or china clay. In many parts of the world kaolin is colored pink-orange-red by iron oxide, giving it a distinct rust hue. Lower concentrations of iron oxide yield the white, yellow, or light orange colors of kaolin. Alternating lighter and darker layers are sometimes found, as at Providence Canyon State Park in Georgia, United States.
Kaolin is an important raw material in many industries and applications. Commercial grades of kaolin are supplied and transported as powder, lumps, semi-dried noodle or slurry. Global production of kaolin in 2021 was estimated to be 45 million tonnes, with a total market value of $US4.24 billion. (Full article...) -
Image 19A sample of andesite (dark groundmass) with amygdaloidal vesicles filled with zeolite. Diameter of view is 8 cm.
Andesite (/ˈændəzaɪt/) is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predominantly of sodium-rich plagioclase plus pyroxene or hornblende.
Andesite is the extrusive equivalent of plutonic diorite. Characteristic of subduction zones, andesite represents the dominant rock type in island arcs. The average composition of the continental crust is andesitic. Along with basalts, andesites are a component of the Martian crust.
The name andesite is derived from the Andes mountain range, where this rock type is found in abundance. It was first applied by Christian Leopold von Buch in 1826. (Full article...) -
Image 20
Green fluorite with prominent cleavage
Cleavage, in mineralogy and materials science, is the tendency of crystalline materials to split along definite crystallographic structural planes. These planes of relative weakness are a result of the regular locations of atoms and ions in the crystal, which create smooth repeating surfaces that are visible both in the microscope and to the naked eye. If bonds in certain directions are weaker than others, the crystal will tend to split along the weakly bonded planes. These flat breaks are termed "cleavage". The classic example of cleavage is mica, which cleaves in a single direction along the basal pinacoid, making the layers seem like pages in a book. In fact, mineralogists often refer to "books of mica".
Diamond and graphite provide examples of cleavage. Each is composed solely of a single element, carbon. In diamond, each carbon atom is bonded to four others in a tetrahedral pattern with short covalent bonds. The planes of weakness (cleavage planes) in a diamond are in four directions, following the faces of the octahedron. In graphite, carbon atoms are contained in layers in a hexagonal pattern where the covalent bonds are shorter (and thus even stronger) than those of diamond. However, each layer is connected to the other with a longer and much weaker van der Waals bond. This gives graphite a single direction of cleavage, parallel to the basal pinacoid. So weak is this bond that it is broken with little force, giving graphite a slippery feel as layers shear apart. As a result, graphite makes an excellent dry lubricant.
While all single crystals will show some tendency to split along atomic planes in their crystal structure, if the differences between one direction or another are not large enough, the mineral will not display cleavage. Corundum, for example, displays no cleavage. (Full article...) -
Image 21Dolomite (white) on talc
Dolomite (/ˈdɒl.əˌmaɪt, ˈdoʊ.lə-/) is an anhydrous carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate, ideally CaMg(CO3)2. The term is also used for a sedimentary carbonate rock composed mostly of the mineral dolomite (see Dolomite (rock)). An alternative name sometimes used for the dolomitic rock type is dolostone. (Full article...) -
Image 22Deep green isolated fluorite crystal resembling a truncated octahedron, set upon a micaceous matrix, from Erongo Mountain, Erongo Region, Namibia (overall size: 50 mm × 27 mm, crystal size: 19 mm wide, 30 g)
Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon.
The Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison, defines value 4 as fluorite.
Pure fluorite is colourless and transparent, both in visible and ultraviolet light, but impurities usually make it a colorful mineral and the stone has ornamental and lapidary uses. Industrially, fluorite is used as a flux for smelting, and in the production of certain glasses and enamels. The purest grades of fluorite are a source of fluoride for hydrofluoric acid manufacture, which is the intermediate source of most fluorine-containing fine chemicals. Optically clear transparent fluorite has anomalous partial dispersion, that is, its refractive index varies with the wavelength of light in a manner that differs from that of commonly used glasses, so fluorite is useful in making apochromatic lenses, and particularly valuable in photographic optics. Fluorite optics are also usable in the far-ultraviolet and mid-infrared ranges, where conventional glasses are too opaque for use. Fluorite also has low dispersion, and a high refractive index for its density. (Full article...) -
Image 23
Borax (also referred to as sodium borate, tincal (/ˈtɪŋkəl/) and tincar (/ˈtɪŋkər/)) is a salt (ionic compound), a hydrated or anhydrous borate of sodium, with the chemical formula Na2H20B4O17 (also written as Na2B4O7·10H2O).
It is a colorless crystalline solid that dissolves in water to make a basic solution.
It is commonly available in powder or granular form and has many industrial and household uses, including as a pesticide, as a metal soldering flux, as a component of glass, enamel, and pottery glazes, for tanning of skins and hides, for artificial aging of wood, as a preservative against wood fungus, and as a pharmaceutic alkalizer. In chemical laboratories, it is used as a buffering agent.
The terms tincal and tincar refer to native borax, historically mined from dry lake beds in various parts of Asia. (Full article...) -
Image 24A ruby crystal from Dodoma Region, Tanzania
Ruby is a pinkish red to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). Ruby is one of the most popular traditional jewelry gems and is very durable. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires. Ruby is one of the traditional cardinal gems, alongside amethyst, sapphire, emerald, and diamond. The word ruby comes from ruber, Latin for red. The color of a ruby is due to the element chromium.
Some gemstones that are popularly or historically called rubies, such as the Black Prince's Ruby in the British Imperial State Crown, are actually spinels. These were once known as "Balas rubies".
The quality of a ruby is determined by its color, cut, and clarity, which, along with carat weight, affect its value. The brightest and most valuable shade of red, called blood-red or pigeon blood, commands a large premium over other rubies of similar quality. After color follows clarity: similar to diamonds, a clear stone will command a premium, but a ruby without any needle-like rutile inclusions may indicate that the stone has been treated. Ruby is the traditional birthstone for July and is usually pinker than garnet, although some rhodolite garnets have a similar pinkish hue to most rubies. The world's most valuable ruby to be sold at auction is the Sunrise Ruby, which sold for US$34.8 million. (Full article...) -
Image 25Quartz crystal cluster from Brazil
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical formula of SiO2. Quartz is, therefore, classified structurally as a framework silicate mineral and compositionally as an oxide mineral. Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in Earth's continental crust, behind feldspar.
Quartz exists in two forms, the normal α-quartz and the high-temperature β-quartz, both of which are chiral. The transformation from α-quartz to β-quartz takes place abruptly at 573 °C (846 K; 1,063 °F). Since the transformation is accompanied by a significant change in volume, it can easily induce microfracturing of ceramics or rocks passing through this temperature threshold.
There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are classified as gemstones. Since antiquity, varieties of quartz have been the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewelry and hardstone carvings, especially in Europe and Asia.
Quartz is the mineral defining the value of 7 on the Mohs scale of hardness, a qualitative scratch method for determining the hardness of a material to abrasion. (Full article...)
Selected mineralogist
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Image 1Georg Brandt (26 June 1694 – 29 April 1768) was a Swedish chemist and mineralogist who discovered cobalt c. 1735. He was the first person to discover a metal unknown in ancient times. He is also known for exposing fraudulent alchemists operating during his lifetime. (Full article...)
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Image 2Carl Schulz (12 November 1851 – 15 August 1944) was a Norwegian educator and politician for the Liberal Party. He became known as a teacher of physics, electrotechnics and mineralogy before advancing to being school director. (Full article...)
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Image 3
Georgius Agricola (/əˈɡrɪkələ/; born Georg Bauer; 24 March 1494 – 21 November 1555) was a German Humanist scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist. Born in the small town of Glauchau, in the Electorate of Saxony of the Holy Roman Empire, he was broadly educated, but took a particular interest in the mining and refining of metals. He was the first to drop the Arabic definite article al-, exclusively writing chymia and chymista in describing activity that we today would characterize as chemical or alchemical, giving chemistry its modern name. For his groundbreaking work De Natura Fossilium published in 1546, he is generally referred to as the Father of mineralogy and the founder of geology as a scientific discipline.
He is well known for his pioneering work De re metallica libri XII, that was published in 1556, one year after his death. This 12-volume work is a comprehensive and systematic study, classification and methodical guide on all available factual and practical aspects, that are of concern for mining, the mining sciences and metallurgy, investigated and researched in its natural environment by means of direct observation. Unrivalled in its complexity and accuracy, it served as the standard reference work for two centuries. Agricola stated in the preface, that he will exclude "all those things which I have not myself seen, or have not read or heard of". He continued, "That which I have neither seen, nor carefully considered after reading or hearing of, I have not written about." (Full article...) -
Image 4Wolf Jürgen Baron von Engelhardt (9 February 1910, Tartu – 4 December 2008, Tübingen) was a German geologist and mineralogist.
Baron von Engelhardt was a descendant of a Baltic German noble family Engelhardt. (Full article...) -
Image 5
Auguste Bravais (French pronunciation: [oɡyst bʁavɛ]; 23 August 1811, Annonay, Ardèche – 30 March 1863, Le Chesnay, France) was a French physicist known for his work in crystallography, the conception of Bravais lattices, and the formulation of Bravais law. Bravais also studied magnetism, the northern lights, meteorology, geobotany, phyllotaxis, astronomy, statistics and hydrography.
He studied at the Collège Stanislas in Paris before joining the École Polytechnique in 1829, where he was a classmate of groundbreaking mathematician Évariste Galois, whom Bravais actually beat in a scholastic mathematics competition. Towards the end of his studies he became a naval officer, and sailed on the Finistere in 1832 as well as the Loiret afterwards. He took part in hydrographic work along the Algerian Coast. He participated in the Recherche expedition and helped the Lilloise in Spitzbergen and Lapland. (Full article...) -
Image 6
Count Lev Alekseyevich von Perovski (Russian: Лев Алексе́евич Перо́вский, also transliterated as Perofsky, Perovskii, Perovskiy, Perovsky, Perowski, and Perowsky; also credited as L.A. Perovski) (9 September 1792 – 21 November 1856) was a Russian nobleman and mineralogist who also served as Minister of Internal Affairs under Nicholas I of Russia.
In 1845, he proposed the creation of the Russian Geographical Society. (Full article...) -
Image 7William Alexander (Alex) Deer FRS (26 October 1910 – 8 February 2009) was a distinguished British geologist, petrologist and mineralogist. (Full article...)
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Image 8
Alfred Des Cloizeaux
Alfred Louis Olivier Legrand Des Cloizeaux (17 October 1817 – 6 May 1897) was a French mineralogist.
Des Cloizeaux was born at Beauvais, in the department of Oise. He studied with Jean-Baptiste Biot at the Collège de France. He became professor of mineralogy at the École Normale Supérieure and afterwards at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris. He studied the geysers of Iceland, and wrote also on the classification of some of the eruptive rocks. (Full article...) -
Image 9
Parker Cleaveland (January 1, 1780 – August 15, 1858) was an American geologist and mineralogist, born in Rowley, Massachusetts.
He was identified with the early progress of the natural sciences. After having attending the Dummer Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts, he graduated from Harvard in 1799, was tutor in mathematics there from 1803 to 1805, was chosen professor of mathematics and natural philosophy and lecturer on chemistry and mineralogy in Bowdoin College, a position which he retained until his death, although many professorships in other colleges and the presidency of his own were offered to him. He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1809 and to the American Philosophical Society in 1818. (Full article...) -
Image 10
Franz von Kobell (1857)
Wolfgang Xavier Franz Ritter von Kobell (19 July 1803 – 11 November 1882) was a German mineralogist and writer of short stories and poems in Bavarian dialect. (Full article...) -
Image 11Hilary Bauerman (16 March 1835 – 5 December 1909) was an English metallurgist, mineralogist and geologist. (Full article...)
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Image 12
Axel Hamberg (17 January 1863 – 28 June 1933) was a Swedish mineralogist, geographer and explorer. (Full article...) -
Image 13
William Hyde Wollaston FRS (/ˈwʊləstən/; 6 August 1766 – 22 December 1828) was an English chemist and physicist who is famous for discovering the chemical elements palladium and rhodium. He also developed a way to process platinum ore into malleable ingots. (Full article...) -
Image 14
Norman Levi Bowen FRS (June 21, 1887 – September 11, 1956) was a Canadian geologist. Bowen "revolutionized experimental petrology and our understanding of mineral crystallization". Beginning geology students are familiar with Bowen's reaction series depicting how different minerals crystallize under varying pressures and temperatures." (Full article...) -
Image 15Stanley Hay Umphray Bowie FRS (born 24 March 1917, in Bixter, Shetland - died 3 September 2008) was a Scottish geologist. He was considered a "world authority on uranium geology and a leader in the field of geochemistry and mineralogy". He developed methods and tools to identify opaque minerals using micro-indentation hardness and optical reflectance. He worked for the British Geological Survey between 1946 and 1977. The mineral bowieite was so named in recognition of his work on identification of opaque minerals. (Full article...)
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Image 16
Coat of Arms of the Chatelet/Chastelet family.
Jean du Chatelet, also known as Baron de Beausoleil and Auffembach (1578, Brabant – c. 1645, The Bastille, Paris), was a mineralogist, mining engineer and dowser. (Full article...) -
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A portrait of Ignaz von Born
Ignaz Edler von Born, also known as Ignatius von Born (Hungarian: Born Ignác, Romanian: Ignațiu von Born, Czech: Ignác Born) (26 December 1742 in Alba Iulia, Grand Principality of Transylvania, Habsburg monarchy – 24 July 1791 in Vienna), was a mineralogist and metallurgist. He was a prominent freemason, being head of Vienna's lodge and an influential anti-clerical writer. He was the leading scientist in the Holy Roman Empire during the 1770s in the Age of Enlightenment.
His interests include mining, mineralogy, palaeontology, chemistry, metallurgy and malacology. (Full article...) -
Image 18
Samuel Fowler (October 30, 1779 – February 20, 1844) was a doctor, state legislator, and member of the United States House of Representatives from northwestern New Jersey. As the owner of zinc and iron mines and an iron works at Franklin, New Jersey, he became a noted mineralogist who discovered several varieties of rare minerals (chiefly various ores of zinc). (Full article...) -
Image 19Ferruccio Zambonini (17 December 1880 – 12 January 1932) was an Italian mineralogist and geologist. Most of his time he worked on the geology and mineralogy of Mount Vesuvius. (Full article...)
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Image 20Peter John Wyllie (born 8 February 1930, in London, England) is a British petrologist and academic.
He was Professor of Geology at the California Institute of Technology from 1983 until his retirement in 1999. Prior to this, he held positions at the University of St Andrews (1955–56), Pennsylvania State University (1958–59 and 1961–66), the University of Leeds (1959–61), and the University of Chicago (1965–83). He is well known for his many contributions to the understanding of magmatism, particularly through his work on the experimental petrology of magmas and volatiles. In the early 1970s, Wyllie wrote two widely used textbooks; The Dynamic Earth (1971) and The Way the Earth Works (1976) which integrated the new understanding of magmatism and plate tectonics. He is also famous for his contributions to the coverage of earth sciences in the Encyclopædia Britannica, particularly his outline of the field in Part Two of the Propædia. Wyllie was President of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) from 1995 to 1999. (Full article...) -
Image 21Ernst Anton Wülfing (27 November 1860, Elberfeld – 17 December 1930, Bad Wörishofen) was a German mineralogist and petrographer, known for his research on the optical properties of minerals and meteorites.
He studied chemistry at Geneva and at Heidelberg as a student of Robert Bunsen, then focused his attention to mineralogy and geology, of which, he studied at Greifswald and Vienna (1887–88). Afterwards he served as an assistant to Harry Rosenbusch at the University of Heidelberg. (Full article...) -
Image 22Jean-André Mongez (21 November 1750 – May 1788) was a French priest and mineralogist. He is presumed to have died at Vanikoro, on the La Pérouse expedition. (Full article...)
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Image 23Stanley Robert Mitchell (12 February 1881 – 22 March 1963) was an Australian commercial metallurgist as well as an amateur mineralogist and ethnologist. (Full article...)
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Image 24Franz-Joseph Müller, Freiherr von Reichenstein or Franz-Joseph Müller von Reichenstein (1 July 1740 or 4 October 1742 – 12 October 1825 or 1826) was an Austrian mineralogist and mining engineer. Müller held several positions in the Habsburg monarchy administration of mines and coinage in the Banat, Transylvania, and Tyrol. During his time in Transylvania he discovered tellurium in 1782. In his later career he became a member of the imperial council in Vienna and was knighted and elevated to the rank Freiherr in 1820. (Full article...)
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Image 25
Ernst Heinrich Oskar Kasimir Weinschenk (6 April 1865, Esslingen am Neckar – 26 March 1921, Munich) was a German mineralogist and petrologist.
He served as a professor at the "Technische Hochschule" in Munich (1897–1921) and at the University of Munich (from 1900). His scientific research included mineralogical analysis of meteorites, and studies of contact-metamorphic mineralization in the Alpine region of central Europe. He also conducted investigations on the origin of the sulfidic ore deposit at Silberberg in the Bavarian Forest, as well as the genesis of graphite deposits near Passau. Through the use of polarizing microscopy and thin sectioning, he determined numerous new minerals. (Full article...)
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General images
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Image 1Sphalerite crystal partially encased in calcite from the Devonian Milwaukee Formation of Wisconsin (from Mineral)
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Image 2Muscovite, a mineral species in the mica group, within the phyllosilicate subclass (from Mineral)
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Image 4Schist is a metamorphic rock characterized by an abundance of platy minerals. In this example, the rock has prominent sillimanite porphyroblasts as large as 3 cm (1.2 in). (from Mineral)
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Image 5Pink cubic halite (NaCl; halide class) crystals on a nahcolite matrix (NaHCO3; a carbonate, and mineral form of sodium bicarbonate, used as baking soda). (from Mineral)
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Image 6Black andradite, an end-member of the orthosilicate garnet group. (from Mineral)
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Image 7Asbestiform tremolite, part of the amphibole group in the inosilicate subclass (from Mineral)
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Image 11Mohs Scale versus Absolute Hardness (from Mineral)
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Image 12Mohs hardness kit, containing one specimen of each mineral on the ten-point hardness scale (from Mohs scale)
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Image 13An example of elbaite, a species of tourmaline, with distinctive colour banding. (from Mineral)
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Image 15Perfect basal cleavage as seen in biotite (black), and good cleavage seen in the matrix (pink orthoclase). (from Mineral)
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Image 16Diamond is the hardest natural material, and has a Mohs hardness of 10. (from Mineral)
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Image 19Red cinnabar (HgS), a mercury ore, on dolomite. (from Mineral)
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Image 20When minerals react, the products will sometimes assume the shape of the reagent; the product mineral is termed a pseudomorph of (or after) the reagent. Illustrated here is a pseudomorph of kaolinite after orthoclase. Here, the pseudomorph preserved the Carlsbad twinning common in orthoclase. (from Mineral)
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Image 21Native gold. Rare specimen of stout crystals growing off of a central stalk, size 3.7 x 1.1 x 0.4 cm, from Venezuela. (from Mineral)
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Image 24Hübnerite, the manganese-rich end-member of the wolframite series, with minor quartz in the background (from Mineral)
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Image 25Epidote often has a distinctive pistachio-green colour. (from Mineral)
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Image 26Gypsum desert rose (from Mineral)
Did you know ...?
- ... that sérandite (pictured) was discovered in Guinea and described in a French journal, and the type material resides in Washington, D.C.?
- ... that the mineral gatehouseite has been found in only one mine in South Australia?
- ... that the mineral motukoreaite is named for Motukorea, the island in New Zealand where it was discovered?
Subcategories
Topics
Overview | ||
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Common minerals |
Ore minerals, mineral mixtures and ore deposits | |||||||||
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Ores |
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Deposit types |
Borates | |||||
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Carbonates | |||||
Oxides |
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Phosphates | |||||
Silicates | |||||
Sulfides | |||||
Other |
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Crystalline | |||||||
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Cryptocrystalline | |||||||
Amorphous | |||||||
Miscellaneous | |||||||
Notable varieties |
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Oxide minerals |
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Silicate minerals | |||||
Other |
Gemmological classifications by E. Ya. Kievlenko (1980), updated | |||||||||
Jewelry stones |
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Jewelry-Industrial stones |
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Industrial stones |
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Mineral identification | |
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"Special cases" ("native elements and organic minerals") |
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"Sulfides and oxides" |
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"Evaporites and similars" |
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"Mineral structures with tetrahedral units" (sulfate anion, phosphate anion, silicon, etc.) |
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References
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