MINERALS

∗ Are elements or compounds that are found in rocks and soil

∗ Some minerals are single elements but most of those minerals are compounds

How are minerals identified

∗ There are about 2,500 minerals, its not easy to identify or differentiate
one for another: Scientist designed a systematic way of identifying
minerals. They consider the physical properties of minerals (luster,
streak, hardness, cleavage or fracture, color, specific gravity, and crystal
form) that can be tested.

COLOR
∗ Color is the first thing someone notices when they view a mineral. Color is
also one of the big reasons that attract people to minerals. Generally
speaking, color is not a good property to be used in the identification of
minerals. It is usually the first property of confuse a novice collector into
making an incorrect identification. Many minerals have different colors
and some minerals’ colors are identical to other minerals’ colors. It is
important to understand what causes color in minerals in order to
understand this mineral property.
∗ Color in minerals is caused by the absorption, or lack of absorption, of
various wavelengths of light. The color of light is determined by its
wavelengths might be absorbed while other wavelengths may be emitted.
If this happens then the light the crystal will no longer be white but will
have some color.

LUSTER
∗ Luster is a description of the way light interacts with the surface of a
crystal, rock, or mineral.
∗ Some mineral have metallic luster like gold, silver, and copper. A non-
metallic luster can be described as greasy, glassy, pearly, silky, resinous
and earthly.
∗ The word luster traces its origins back to the Latin word lux, meaning
“lights”, and generally implies radiance, gloss, or brilliance.
Examples of Metallic Luster
GOLD LUSTER
SILVER LUSTER
COPPER LUSTER

Examples of Non-metallic Luster

Fluorescent
– When the mineral subjected in ultraviolet it will glow and when you off the
ultraviolet, it will stop glowing
– When you off the ultraviolet, its still glow/continue glowing

ADAMANTINE LUSTER
Adamnatine minerals possess a superlative luster, which is most notably seen in
diamond. Such minerals are transparent or translucent, and have a high refractive
index (of 1.9 or more). Minerals with a true adamantine luster are uncommon, with
other examples being cerussite and zircon.

GREASY LUSTER
∗ Greasy minerals resemble fat or grease. A greasy luster often occurs in
minerals containing a great abundance of microscopic inclusions, with
examples including opal and cordierite.
∗ Many minerals with a greasy luster are also greasy to the touch.

GLASSY LUSTER
∗ Luster describing minerals with reflective properties similar to that of glass.
Example: Obsidian

PEARLY LUSTER
 ∗ Pearly minerals consists of thin transparent co-planar sheets. Light reflecting
from these layers give them a luster reminiscent of pearls.
∗ Such minerals possess perfect cleavage, with examples including muscovite
and stilbite.

SILKY LUSTER
Silky minerals have a parallel arrangement of extremely fine fibers, giving
them a luster reminiscent of silk.
∗ Examples include asbestos, ulexite and the satin spar variety of gypsum.
∗ A fibrous luster is similar, but ahs a coarser texture.

RESINOUS LUSTER
∗ Resinous minerals have the appearance of resin, chewing gum or (smooth
surfaced) plastic.
∗ A principal example is amber, which is a form of fossilized resin.

EARTHLY LUSTER
Dull (or earthy) minerals exhibit little to no luster, due to coarse granulations which
scatter light in all directions, approximating a Lambertian reflector. An example is
kaolinite. A distinction is sometimes drawn between dull minerals and earthy
minerals, with the latter being coarser, and having even less luster.

Kaolinite

HARDNESS
∗ Hardness is the minerals resistance to being scratch. The harder the mineral,
the more difficult to scratch, the softer the mineral, the lesser is the
resistance.
∗ Friedrich Moh, a German mineralogist, identified the scale of hardness for
minerals.

Mohs Harness Scale:

1. Talc
2. Gypsum
3. Calcite
4. Flourite
5. Apatite
6. Orthoclase
7. Quartz
8. Topaz
9. Corundum (ruby and sapphire)
10.Daimond

Note: # 1 is the softest mineral and

# 2 is the hardest known substance.

STREAK
∗ Streak is the color powdered mineral
∗ Streak is produced by rubbing the mineral in ceramic plate or by grinding up
small piece of the mineral.
Example: Hermatite with a red streak on a porcelain fuse

CLEAVAGE
∗ Cleavage, is the tendency of crystalline materials to break along definite
smooth planes. Some minerals may exhibit distinct cleavage along one or
more plains, while others exhibit poor cleavage at all.

TYPES OF CLEAVAGE
1. Biotite with basal cleavage.
2. Cubic cleavage occurs on the planes, parallel to the faces of a cube for a
crystal with cubic symmetry. This is the source of the cubic shape seen in
 crystals of ground table salt, the mineral halite. The mineral galena also
typicallylk exhibits perfect cubic cleavage.
3. Octahedral cleavage occurs on the crystal planes, forming octahedral shapes
for a crystal with cubic symmetry. Diamond and fluorite exhibit perfect
octahedral cleavage.
4. Dodacahedral cleavage occurs on the crystal planes forming dodecahedra for
a crystal with cubic symmetry. For lower – symmetry crystals, there will be a
smaller number of (110) planes.
5. Rhombohedral cleavage occur parallel to the faces of a rhombohedra. Calcite
and other carbonate minerals exhibit perfect rhombohedral cleavage.
6. Prismatic cleavage is cleavage parallel to a vertical prism. Cerussite,
tremolite and spodumene exhibit prismatic cleavage.

FRACTURE
∗ Fracture is a term used to describe the shape and texture of the surface
formed when a mineral is broken. Minerals often have a highly distinctive
fracture, making it a principal feature used in their identification.
∗ Fracture are minerals that break along curved surfaces, splinter, or break
unevenly

TYPES OF FRACTURE
1. Conchoidal fracture is a curved breakage that resembles the concentric
ripples of a mussel shell. It often occurs in amorphous or fine-grained
minerals such as flint, opal or obsidian, but may also occur in crystalline
minerals such as quartz. Subconchoidal fracture is similar to conchoidal
fracture, but not as curved.
2. Earthy fracture is reminiscent of freshly broken soil. It is frequently seen in
relatively soft, loosely bound minerals, such as limonite, kaolinite and
aluminite.
Earthy fracture

3. Hackly fracture (also know as jagged fracture) is jagged, sharp and uneven. It
occurs when metals are tom, and so is often encountered in native metals
such as copper and silver.
Hackly fracture
Native copper
4. Splintery fracture comprises sharp elongated points. It is particularly seen in
fibrous minerals such as chrysotile, but may also occur in non-fibrous
minerals such as kyanite.
Splintery fracture

NOTE:
∗ Fracture differs from Cleavage, the latter involves clean splitting along the
cleavage planes of the mineral’s crystal structure, as opposed to more general
breakage. All minerals exhibit fracture, but when very strong cleavage is
present, it can be difficult to see.

SPECIFIC GRAVITY
∗ Specific gravity relates the mineral mass to the mass of an equal volume of
water, namely the density of the material. While most minerals, including all the
common rock-forming minerals, have a specific gravity of 2.5-3.5, a few are
noticeably more or less dense, e.g. several sulfide minerals have high specific
gravity compared to the common rock – forming minerals.

What are Ore Minerals?

∗ One Minerals are mineral deposits that have economic value
∗ They are minerals that contain a large amount of metallic elements and
compoundjs
Examples of Ore Minerals
Pyrite
Chalcopyrite
Sphalerite
Flourite

Gems are minerals that are used as ornaments or jewelries.

The value of gem is determined by: size, lack of flaw, beauty of color, luster,
harness and perfection of crystals form
Examples of Gems:
Diamonds
Emerald
Opal
Jade

ROCK – FORMERS
∗ They are responsible for most of the rock formation in the earth’s crust
∗ About 2500 minerals but only about 20 are common in the crust

CLASSIFICATION OF MINERALS
∗ Silicate class – The largest group of minerals by far are the silicates (most
rocks are 95% silicate), which are composed largely of silicon and oxygen,
with the addition of ions such as aluminum, magnesium, iron, and calcium.
Some important rock-forming silicates include the feldspars, quartz, olivines,
pyroxenes, amphilobes, and micas.
White quartz
Feldspar
Sulfate class
Anhydrite
Celestine
Barite
Gypsum
∗ Carbonate class – Consist of those minerals containing the anion (CO3)2 –
and include calcite and aragonite (both calcium carbonate), dolomite
(magnesium/calcium carbonate) and siderite (iron carbonate). Carbonates
are commonly deposited in marine settings when the shells of dead
planktonic life settle and accumulate on the sea floor.
Aragonite
Calcite
Dolomite
Siderite
Halide class
Purple fluorite
Halite
Fluorite
Yellow fluoride
Sylvite
Sal ammoniac

∗ Halide – The halide minerals are the group of minerals forming the natural
salts and include fluorite (calcium fluoride), halite (sodium chloride), sylvite
(potassium chlorite), and sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride).
Purple fluoride
Halite
Fluorite
Yellow fluorite
Sylvite
Sal ammoniac

∗ Oxide class – Oxide minerals are extremely important in mining as they

form many of the ores from which valuable metals can be extracted. They
also carry the best record of changes in the Earth’s magnetic field. Common
 oxides include hematite (iron oxide), magnetite (iron oxide), chromite (iron
chromium oxide), spinel (magnesium aluminium oxide – a common
component of the mantle), ilmenite (iron titanium oxide), rutile (titanium
dioxide), and ice (hydrogen oxide). The oxide class includes the oxides and
the hydroxide minerals.
Hematite
Chromite
Spinel
Ilmenite
A circular crystals of rutile protruding from a quartz crystal
A natural block of (water) ice

∗ Sulfide class – many sulfide minerals are economically important as metal

ores. Common sulfides include pyrite (iron sulfide – commonly known as
fools’ good), chalcopyrite (copper iron sulfide) ,
Pentlandite
Phosphate class
Apatite

Elements class – The elemental group includes metals and intermetallic

elements (gold, silver, copper), semi-metals and non-metals (antimony, bismuth,
graphite, sulfur). This group also includes natural alloys, such as electrum (a natural
allow of gold and silver), phosphides, silicides, nitrides and carbides (which are
usually only found naturally in a few meteorites).
Alloy, Electrum

∗ Organic class – The organic mineral class includes biogenic substances in

which geological processes have been a part of the genesis or origin of the
existing compound. Minerals of the organic class include various oxalates,
mellitates, citrates, cyanates, acetates, formats, hydrocarbons and other
miscellaneous species. Examples include whewellite, moolooite, mellite,
fichtelite, carpathite, evenkite and abelsonite.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MINERALS AND ROCKS

∗ A mineral is a naturally occurring solid with a definite chemical composition

and a specific crystalline structure.
∗ A rock is an aggregate of one or more minerals

All types of minerals has common features. Without anyone of these, a substance
cannot be considered as minerals. The following features are:
∗ They are inorganic, and never part of living thing.
∗ They are solid; and
∗ They have definite compositions and each minerals has its own special
properties.