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List of mineralA mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through geological processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. A rock, by comparison, is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids, and need not have a specific...
s for which there are Wikipedia articles. Mineral variety names and
mineraloidA mineraloid is a mineral-like substance that does not demonstrate crystallinity. Mineraloids possess chemical compositions that vary beyond the generally accepted ranges for specific minerals. For example, obsidian is an amorphous glass and not a crystal. Jet is derived from decaying wood under...
s are to be listed after the valid minerals for each letter.
For a complete listing (about 4,000) of all mineral names:
List of minerals (complete).
Sorted by name:
A
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Agate
Agate is a microcrystalline variety of quartz , chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color...
(variety of quartz)
- Alabaster
Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals: gypsum and calcite . The former is the alabaster of the present day; the latter is generally the alabaster of the ancients....
(variety of gypsum)
- Alexandrite (variety of chrysoberyl)
- Allingite (synonym of amber)
- Alum
Alum is both a specific chemical compound and a class of chemical compounds. The specific compound is the hydrated aluminium potassium sulfate with the formula KAl
2.12H
2O...
- Amazonite
Amazonite is a green variety of microcline feldspar.The name is taken from that of the Amazon River, from which certain green stones were formerly obtained, but it is doubtful whether green feldspar occurs in the Amazon area.Amazonite is a mineral of limited occurrence...
(variety of microcline)
- Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since neolithic times. Good quality amber is used for the manufacture of ornamental objects and jewelry...
(fossilized resin)
- Amethyst
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the Ancient Greek a- and methustos , a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness; the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief that it...
(purple variety of quartz)
- Ammolite
Ammolite is a rare and valuable opal-like organic gemstone found primarily along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains of the United States and Canada. It is arguably the rarest gemstone on earth, rivaling the rarity of such gemstones as alexandrite and red diamonds...
(organic; also a gemstoneA gemstone or gem is a piece of attractive mineral, which—when cut and polished—is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
)
- Amosite (asbestiform grunerite)
- Anyolite
Although anyolite is advertized as a variety of the mineral zoisite from Kenya and Tanzania, anyolite is actually a metamorphic rock composed of intergrown green zoisite, black tschermakite, and ruby...
(metamorphic rock - zoisite, ruby, and hornblende)
- Aquamarine
Aquamarine may mean:* Aquamarine , a color, a shade between green and blue* A gemstone-quality blue berylAquamarine may also refer to:* Aqua Marine, a private housing estate in Hong Kong* Aquamarine , a 2001 novel by Alice Hoffman...
(light blue variety of beryl)
- Asbestos
Asbestos is a naturally occurring silicate mineral with long, thin fibrous crystals. The word asbestos is a borrowed Greek adjective meaning inextinguishable. The Greeks termed asbestos the miracle mineral because of its soft and pliant properties, as well as its ability to withstand...
(fibrous serpentine- or amphibole minerals)
- Avalite (A chromian variety of Illite.)
- Aventurine
Aventurine is a form of quartz, characterised by its translucency and the presence of platy mineral inclusions that give a shimmering or glistening effect termed aventurescence....
(variety of quartz)
B
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Bauxite
Bauxite is the most important aluminium ore. It consists largely of the minerals gibbsite Al
3, boehmite γ-AlO, and diaspore α-AlO, together with the iron oxides goethite and hematite, the clay mineral kaolinite and small amounts of anatase TiO
2...
(aluminium ore)
- Beckerite (natural resin)
- Bixbite (red gem variety of beryl)
C
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Carnelian
Carnelian is a reddish-brown mineral which is commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker...
(variety of quartz)
- Chalcedony
Chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of the minerals quartz and moganite. These are both silica minerals, but they differ in that quartz has a trigonal crystal structure, whilst moganite is monoclinic.Chalcedony has a waxy luster, and may be...
(cryptocrystalline variety of quartz)
- Chrysolite (gemmy yellow-green forsterite)
- Chrysoprase
Chrysoprase or chrysophrase is a gemstone variety of chalcedony that contains small quantities of nickel. Its color is normally apple-green, but varies to deep green. The darker varieties of chrysoprase are also referred to as prase...
(green nickel bearing chalcedony)
- Chrysotile
Chrysotile or white asbestos is the most commonly encountered form of asbestos, accounting for approximately 95% of the asbestos in place in the United States and a similar proportion in other countries. It is a soft, fibrous silicate mineral in the serpentine group of phyllosilicates: as such, it...
(group name - asbestiform serpentine)
- Citrine (yellow variety of quartz)
- Cleveite
Cleveite is a radioactive mineral containing uranium and found in Norway. It is an impure variety of uraninite, and has the composition UO2 with about 10% of the uranium substituted by rare earth elements...
- Coltan
Coltan is the colloquial African name for columbite - tantalite, a dull black, metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral is columbite, hence the "col" half of the term...
(short for minerals of the columbite group)
- Crocidolite (asbestiform riebeckite)
- Cymophane (variety of chrysoberyl)
D
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Delessite
Delessite is a mineral variety, a magnesium rich form of chamosite which is a member of the chlorite group. Delessite has the formula: 4O108....
(magnesian chamosite)
- Diatomite (diatomaceous earth)
E
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Emerald
Emeralds are a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5 - 8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness. Most emeralds are highly included, so their toughness is classified as generally poor...
(green gem variety of beryl)
F
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Fassaite
Fassaite is a variety of augite but having a very low iron content. It is named after the Fassa Valley, Italy. Some authorities do not recognize it as a separate mineral but continue to class it with Augite....
Variety of augite
- Ferricrete
]Ferricrete is a mineral conglomerate consisting of surficial sand and gravel cemented into a hard mass by iron oxide derived from the oxidation of percolating solutions of iron salts. The word is derived from the combination of ferruginous and concrete.Ferricrete is used widely in South Africa to...
Iron oxide cemented soil or sediment
G
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Gedanite (fossilized resin)
- Glessite (natural resin)
H
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Heliodor (greenish-yellow variety of beryl)
- Heliotrope
The mineral heliotrope, also known as bloodstone, is a form of chalcedony . The "classic" bloodstone is green chalcedony with red inclusions of iron oxide or red jasper...
(variety of chalcedony)
- Hiddenite
Hiddenite is a pale-to-emerald green variety of spodumene that is sometimes used as a gemstone.The first specimens of the hiddenite variety of spodumene were recovered about 1879 near the tiny settlement of White Plains, west of Stony Point, Alexander County, North Carolina. According to...
(variety of spodumene)
- Hyalite
Hyalite is a form of opal with a glassy and clear appearance which exhibits an internal play of colors and has natural inclusions. It is also called Muller's glass, water opal and jalite. Its Mohs hardness is 5.5 to 6 and it has a specific gravity of 2.1. It is an amorphous form of silica . Its...
(variety of opal)
I
J
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
(tough, green mineral either jadeite or nephriteNephrite is a variety of the calcium and magnesium-rich amphibole mineral actinolite . The chemical formula for nephrite is Ca
25Si
8O
222. It is one of two different mineral species called jade...
amphibole)
- Jasper
Jasper is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color. Blue is rare. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for snuff boxes. When the...
(variety of quartz)
- Jet
Jet is a geological material and is considered to be a minor gemstone. Jet is not considered a true mineral, but rather a mineraloid as it has an organic origin, being derived from decaying wood under extreme pressure....
(fossilised woodWood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of trees . In a living tree it transfers water and nutrients to the leaves and other growing tissues, and has a support function, enabling woody plants to reach large sizes or to stand up for themselves...
)
K
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Keilhauite
Keilhauite is a variety of the mineral titanite of a brownish black color, related to titanite in form. It consists chiefly of silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, calcium oxide, and yttrium oxide....
(variety of titanite)
- Krantzite (natural resin)
- Kunzite (variety of spodumene)
L
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli is a relatively rare, semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense blue color....
(a rock consisting primarily of lazurite, calciteCalcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 470°C, and vaterite is even less stable....
and pyriteThe mineral pyrite, or iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS
2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale-to-normal, brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold due to its resemblance to gold...
)
- Larimar
Larimar is a rare blue variety of pectolite found only in the Dominican Republic, in the Caribbean. Its coloration varies from white, light-blue, green-blue to deep blue...
(blue variety of pectolitePectolite is a white to gray mineral, NaCa2Si3O8, sodium calcium inosilicate hydroxide. It crystallizes in the triclinic system typically occurring in radiated or fibrous crystalline masses. It has a Mohs hardness of 4.5 to 5 and a specific gravity of 2.7 to 2.9...
)
- Lechatelierite
Lechatelierite is silica glass, amorphous SiO2. One common way in which lechatelierite forms naturally is by very high temperature melting of quartz sand during a lightning strike...
(fused quartz glass)
- Lignite
Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal; it is mined in Russia, the United States, Australia and many European countries,...
(a type of coal)
- Limonite
Limonite is an ore consisting in a mixture of hydrated iron oxide-hydroxide of varying composition. The generic formula is frequently written as FeO·nH2O, although this is not entirely accurate as limonite often contains a varying amount of oxide compared to hydroxide.Together with...
-(a mineraloid )
- Lodestone
A lodestone or loadstone is a naturally magnetized piece of the mineral magnetite. They are naturally occurring magnets, and attract pieces of iron. Ancient people first discovered the property of magnetism in lodestone...
(a synonym of magnetite)
- Lublinite variety of calcite
M
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- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Magnesia
- Mariposite
Mariposite is a mineral which is a chromium-rich variety of mica, which imparts an attractive green color to the generally white dolomitic marble in which it is commonly found. It was named for Mariposa, California, though it can be found in several places in the Sierra Nevada mountains...
(variety of phengite/muscovite)
- Menilite
Menilite is a reddish-brown form of the mineraloid opal. It is also known as "liver opal" or leberopal, due to its color. It is called menilite because it is found in Ménilmontant , where it occurs in concretions of Tertiary shale....
(variety of opal)
- Meerschaum
is a soft white mineral sometimes found floating on the Black Sea, and rather suggestive of sea-foam , whence also the French name for the same substance, écume de mer.
...
(variety of sepiolite)
- Milky quartz (a cloudy white quartz)
- Morganite (a pink beryl)
N
O
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Onyx
Onyx is a cryptocrystalline form of quartz. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color . Commonly, specimens of onyx available contain bands of colors of white, tan, and brown. Sardonyx is a variant in which the colored bands are sard rather than black...
(a monochromatic banded variety of chalcedony)
- Opal
Opal is a mineraloid gel which is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl and basalt...
P
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Palagonite
Palagonite is an alteration product from the interaction of water with volcanic glass of chemical composition similar to basalt. Palagonite can also result from the interaction between water and basalt melt...
(basaltBasalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey.On Earth, most...
ic volcanic glass)
- Perlite
Perlite is an amorphous volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content, typically formed by the hydration of obsidian. It occurs naturally and has the unusual property of greatly expanding when heated sufficiently...
(volcanic glass)
- Phosphorite
Phosphorite, phosphate rock or rock phosphate is a non-detrital sedimentary rock which contains high amounts of phosphate bearing minerals. The phosphate content of phosphorite is at least 20% which is a large enrichment over the typical sedimentary rock content of less than 0.2%...
(name given to impure, massive apatite.)
- Plessite
Plessite is a fine-grained mixture of the minerals kamacite and taenite found in the octahedrite iron meteorites. It occurs in gaps between the larger bands of kamacite and taenite which form Widmanstätten patterns....
(mixture of kamaciteKamacite is a mineral. It is an alloy of iron and nickel, usually in the proportions of 90:10 to 95:5 although impurities such as cobalt or carbon may be present. On the surface of Earth, it occurs naturally only in meteorites. It has a metallic lustre, is grey and has no clear cleavage although...
and taeniteTaenite is a mineral found naturally on Earth mostly in iron meteorites. It is an alloy of iron and nickel, with nickel proportions of 20% up to 65%.The name is derived from the Greek for "band". Taenite is a major constituent of iron meteorites...
)
- Pitchblende
Uraninite is a radioactive, uranium-rich mineral and ore with a chemical composition that is largely UO
2, but also contains UO
3 and oxides of lead, thorium, and rare earth elements...
(a massive impure form of uraninite)
- Pumicite (synonym of pumice)
R
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Rock crystal (quartz)
- Rose quartz
- Roumanite (amber)
- Ruby
A ruby is a pink to blood-red gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum . The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires...
(red gem corundum)
S
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Sapphire
Sapphire refers to gemstone varieties of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red, in which case the gem would instead be a ruby. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give corundum blue, yellow, pink, purple, orange, or...
(gem corundum of any color except red, especially blue varieties)
- Sard
is a Japanese tuning company and racing team from Toyota, Aichi, mainly competing in the Super GT series and specialising in Toyota tuning parts.-History:...
(a variety of chalcedony/quartz)
- Satinspar
Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO
4·2H
2O.-Crystal varieties:...
(a variety of Gypsum)
- Smoky quartz
Smoky quartz or smokey quartz is a brown to black variety of quartz caused through the natural irradiation of aluminium-containing rock crystal.-Morion:A very dark brown to black opaque variety is known as morion...
(a brown or black variety of quartz)
- Soapstone
Soapstone is a metamorphic rock, a talc-schist. It is largely composed of the mineral talc and is rich in magnesium. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occurs in the areas where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx of...
(a rock)
- Spectrolite
Spectrolite is a rare variety of labradorite feldspar which exhibits intense labradorescence, schiller or iridescence. The variety is a trade name for material mined in Finland. Labradorite with the spectrolite play of colors has also reported from Madagascar. It is noted for the play of colors...
(a variety of labradorite)
- Stantienite
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since neolithic times. Good quality amber is used for the manufacture of ornamental objects and jewelry...
(a variety of amber)
T
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Tanzanite
Tanzanite is the blue/purple variety of the mineral zoisite which was discovered in the Meralani Hills of Northern Tanzania in 1967, near the city of Arusha. It is used as a gemstone...
(variety of Zoisite)
- Thulite
Thulite is an opaque, massive pink manganese bearing variety of the mineral zoisite. Manganese substitutes for calcium in the structure with up to two percent Mn2+. Thulite is often mottled with white calcite and occurs as veins and fracture fillings transecting many types of rock...
(variety of Zoisite)
- Travertine
Travertine is a terrestrial sedimentary rock, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from geothermally heated hot-springs. Similar deposits formed from ambient temperature water are known as tufa.-Features:...
(form of calcium carbonate)
- Tsavorite
Tsavorite or tsavolite is a variety of the garnet group species grossular, a calcium-aluminium garnet with the formula Ca3Al2Si3O12. Trace amounts of vanadium or chromium provide the green color....
(gem variety of grossularite garnet)
U
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Ultramarine
Ultramarine is a blue pigment consisting primarily of a double silicate of aluminium and sodium with some sulfides or sulfates, and occurring in nature as a proximate component of lapis lazuli...
- Unakite
First discovered in the United States in the Unakas mountains of North Carolina, unakite is an altered granite composed of pink orthoclase feldspar, green epidote, and generally colorless quartz. It exists in various shades of green and pink and is usually mottled in appearance...
, a rock composed of feldspar, epidote and quartz
- Uralite alteration actinolite
V
W
- Varieties that are not valid species:
- Wad
Wad is an old mining term for any black manganese oxide or hydroxide mineral rich rock in the oxidized zone of various ore deposits. Typically closely associated with various iron oxides. Specific mineral varieties include pyrolusite, lithiophorite, nsutite, takanelite, and vernadite....
Z
See also
- List of gemstones
- List of minerals (complete)
- List of stone
- List of rock types
- Industrial minerals
Industrial minerals are geological materials which are mined for their commercial value, which are not fuel and are not sources of metals ....
- Gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of attractive mineral, which—when cut and polished—is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
- Geology
Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structure, physical properties, dynamics, and history of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed...
- Mineralogy
Mineralogy is an Earth Science focused around the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their...
- Mineraloid
A mineraloid is a mineral-like substance that does not demonstrate crystallinity. Mineraloids possess chemical compositions that vary beyond the generally accepted ranges for specific minerals. For example, obsidian is an amorphous glass and not a crystal. Jet is derived from decaying wood under...
- Nonmineral
A nonmineral is a substance found in a natural environment that does not satisfy the definition of a mineral and is not even a mineraloid...
- Rock
In geology, rock is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
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