Minerals are everywhere – in the rocks under your feet, the sand on a beach, and the stones in your collection. Learning to identify and understand them is one of the most rewarding skills a hobbyist can develop. The articles in this collection cover the most common and interesting minerals in plain language, with practical identification tips anyone can use whether they are at home with a specimen in hand or out in the field.
What This Collection Covers
The Minerals collection covers the most commonly found and collected minerals including quartz, pyrite, hematite, calcite, feldspar, mica, and many others, how minerals form and what gives each one its distinctive appearance, simple identification methods using color, luster, hardness, streak, and cleavage, the difference between minerals and rocks and why it matters for collectors, how to use a basic field kit to identify specimens on the spot, and what mineral properties tell you about where a specimen came from and how it formed. These articles give beginners the tools to start identifying minerals with confidence.
Complete Guide
For a full overview of common minerals and how to identify them, our complete mineral guide covers the most important specimens in one place.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a mineral?
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid with a specific chemical composition and a crystalline internal structure. There are over 4,000 known minerals but most collectors focus on a much smaller group of common and collectible specimens. Quartz, feldspar, calcite, pyrite, and mica make up a large percentage of the minerals found in everyday rocks and are good starting points for any beginner.
How do I identify a mineral I found?
Start with the five basic properties – color, luster, hardness, streak, and cleavage. Color is the most obvious but least reliable on its own since many minerals come in multiple colors. Luster describes how light reflects off the surface – glassy, metallic, pearly, or dull. Hardness is tested against known materials using the Mohs scale. Streak is the color left when you drag the mineral across unglazed porcelain. Cleavage describes how the mineral breaks. Together these five observations identify most common specimens.
What is fool’s gold and how do I tell it from real gold?
Fool’s gold is pyrite – iron sulfide – which has a brassy yellow color that can look like gold to the untrained eye. Real gold is much heavier, softer, and does not have the cubic crystal faces that pyrite typically shows. Gold leaves a yellow streak on a streak plate while pyrite leaves a greenish-black streak. Gold also does not tarnish or have the slightly greenish tint that pyrite often develops over time.
What is the most common mineral on earth?
Feldspar is the most abundant mineral in the earth’s crust, making up about 60 percent of all surface rocks. Quartz is the second most common and the one collectors encounter most frequently. Despite being so common, quartz comes in a remarkable range of varieties including amethyst, citrine, rose quartz, smoky quartz, and tiger’s eye – making it one of the most collected mineral families in the world.
What basic tools do I need to identify minerals?
A streak plate, a hand lens or loupe, a copper coin, a steel nail or knife, and a small magnet cover most identification needs. These tools test streak, surface detail, hardness at multiple levels, and magnetism – which is useful for identifying minerals like magnetite and some forms of hematite. A basic field guide specific to your region rounds out a beginner’s identification kit.