Gem and Mineral Collector's Information and Photo Gallery, crystals

The Gem and Mineral Collector's Information and Photo Gallery

	Minerals are the materials of which the earth's crust is built and are therefore among the most common objects of daily observation. Interesting forms of minerals have long been an object of man's fascination. Since the earliest days he has collected and studied them - they are a form of natural art. This set of pages is intended to provide some basic information on minerals which have been used as gems, are of industrial importance as ores or for having special interest to collectors. There are many lists like this one on the internet, but this one has the distinct advantage of colorful photos and a detailed description of the origins and nature of the individual minerals beyond just their physical properties. Many of the minerals have multiple spectacular photographs, most taken at museums or the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. A mineral may be defined as a naturally occurring substance having a definite and uniform chemical composition with corresponding characteristic physical properties. This eliminates all artificial products of the laboratory which may conform to the last part of the definition. It also eliminates all natural products of organic agencies, since they will not show the uniform chemical and physical characters demanded of a mineral. In spite of this I have included a few items which are of interest, but do not strictly qualify as minerals. In the form of rocks, minerals make up the solid matter of the earth's crust. But in the great majority of cases a rock is not made up of a single mineral, but is a more or less heterogeneous aggregate of several different species. A few rocks, like limestone and quartzite, consist of but one mineral in a more or less pure state. In addition to occurring as essential and integral parts of rocks, minerals are found distributed through them in a scattered way, or in veins and cavities. Below is a collection of over 100 minerals with beautiful photos and detailed species information:

The Gem and Mineral Collector's Gallery:
Acanthite Actinolite Adamite Angelesite Amazonite Ammolite Amphiboles Apatite Aragonite Arsenopyrite Aurichalcite Autunite Axinite Azurite Barite Benitoite Beryl: Aquamarine Emerald Heliodor Morganite Red Beryl Borax Bornite Brazilianite Brucite Calaverite Calcite Carnotite Cassiterite Celestite Cerrusite Cerargyrite	Chalcopyrite Chalcosiderite Chalcosite Chlorite Chrysoberyl Chrysocolla Chrysotile Chromite Cinnabar Colemanite Copper Cordierite Corundum: Ruby Corundum: Sapphire Crocoite Cuprite Diamond Dioptase Diopside Dolomite Dumorterite Electrum Epidote Feldspar Fluorite Galena Garnet Almondite Andradite Grossularite Pyrope Spessartite Uvarovite	Gold Goethite Graphite Gypsum Halite Hematite Iron (meteorites) Lazulite Lepidolite Limonite Jade: Jadeite Jade: Nephrite Kyanite Magnetite Malachite Mica (muscovite, Biotite Lepidolite, Mariposite); Molybdenite Moldavite Olivine (Peridot) Opal Orpiment Orthoclase Phenacite Phrenite Platinum Polybasite Proustite Pyrite Pyrolusite Pyromorphite Pyragyrite Pyroxenes	Quartz Realgar Rhodochrosite Rhodonite Rutile Scapolite Sheelite Siderite Silver Smithsonite Sodalite Sphalerite Sphene Spodumene Spinel Stephanite Stibnite Sulfur Sylvanite Tetrahedrite Tobernite Topaz Tourmaline Turquoise Ulexite Uranite Vanadinite Variscite Vivianite Wulfenite Zeolites Zircon Zoisite

Characters of Minerals. 1. Minerals, as previously stated, have a definite chemical composition. This composition, as determined by chemical analysis, serves to define and distinguish the species, and indicates their profoundest relations. Owing to difference in composition, minerals exhibit great differences when subjected to the action of various chemical reagents, and these peculiarities are a means of determining the kind of mineral under examination in any case. The department of the science treating of the composition of minerals and their chemical reactions is termed Chemical Mineralogy. 2. Each mineral, with few exceptions, has its definite form, by which, when in good specimens, it may be known. These forms are cubes, prisms, pyramids, etc. They are included under plane surfaces arranged in symmetrical order, according to mathematical law. These forms are called crystals. Besides these outward forms there is also a distinctive internal structure for each species. The facts of this branch of the science come under the head of Crystallographic Mineralogy. 3. Minerals differ in hardness, from talc at one end of the scale to the diamond at the other. Minerals differ in specific gravity, and this character, like hardness, is a most important means of distinguishing species. Minerals differ in color, transparency, luster and other optical properties. The facts and principles relating to the above characters and others of a similar nature are included in the department of Physical Mineralogy. 4. The detailed descriptions of individual mineral species, including their chemical, crystallographic and general physical characters, together with their occurrence, associations, uses, etc., are included under the division known as Descriptive Mineralogy. 5. Lastly, the discussion of the methods that are used for identifying minerals forms the division known as Determinative Mineralogy. Classification of Minerals. Classification is the grouping of objects or phenomena in such a manner as will bring together those that are related or that are similar in many respects and will separate those that are different. Since minerals are chemical compounds whose properties depend upon their compositions, their most logical classification must be based upon chemical relationships. But their morphological and physical properties are their most noticeable features, and hence these should also be taken into account in any classification that may be adopted. Probably the most satisfactory method of classifying minerals is to group them, first, in accordance with their chemical relationships and, second, in accordance with their morphological and physical properties. The first division is into the great chemical groups, as, for instance, the elements, the chlorides, the sulphides, etc. The second division is the separation of these great groups into smaller ones comprising minerals possessing the same general morphological features. These smaller groups may contain only a single mineral or they may contain a large number of closely allied ones. If the basis of the subgrouping is manner of crystallization, it follows that the members of subgroups containing more than one member are usually isomorphous compounds. Thus the subdivisions of the great chemical groups are single minerals and small or large isomorphous groups of minerals, arranged in the order in which their metallic elements are usually discussed in treatises on chemistry. For example, the great group of carbonates embraces all minerals that. are salts of carbonic acid (H2CO3). This great group is divided into smaller groups along chemical lines, as for instance, the normal carbonates, the hydrous carbonates, the basic carbonates, etc. These smaller groups are finally divided into subgroups according to their morphological properties the normal salts, for example, being divided into the two isomorphous groups known as the calcite and the aragonite groups, and a third group comprising but a single mineral. In certain specific cases some other classification than the one outlined above may be desirable. For instance, in books written for mining students it is often found that a classification based upon the nature of the metallic constituent is of more interest than the more strictly scientific one outlined above, because such a classification emphasizes those components of the minerals with which the mining student is most concerned. In books written for the student of rocks, on the other hand, the most important determinative features of minerals are their morphological characters, hence in these the classification may be based primarily on manner of crystallization.
Gem and Mineral sales are big business. This photo at right is from the annual February Tucson Gem and Mineral show in Arizona.

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