MINERAL SYLVANITE

 Chemistry: AgAuTe4, Silver Gold Telluride.

 Class: Sulfides
 Subclass: Tellurides
 Uses: A very minor ore of silver and gold and as mineral specimens.
 Specimens

 Color is a steel gray to silver gray to almost white.

 Luster is a bright metallic.
 Transparency: Crystals are opaque.
 Crystal System: Monoclinic; 2/m
 Crystal Habits include prismatic to more rarely tabular crystals that are often
twinned into sharp bends, reticulated individuals and skeletal or arborescent
formations. These are sometimes described as looking like writing. Also found as
granular and columnar masses.
 Cleavage is perfect in one direction.
 Fracture is uneven.
 Hardness is 1.5 - 2
 Specific Gravity is approximately 8.2 (very heavy even for metallic minerals).
 Streak is a steel gray to black.
 Other Characteristics: Dark tarnish can often form after prolonged exposure to light.
 Associated Minerals include gold, quartz, fluorite, rhodochrosite, pyrite,
acanthite, nagyagite, calaverite, krennerite and other rare telluride minerals.
 Notable Occurrences include Cripple Creek, Colorado and Calaveras County,
California, USA; Nagyag, Romania; Bigstone Bay and Kirkland lake Gold District,
Ontario and Rouyn District, Quebec, Canada; Kalgoorlie, Australia and Vahatala, Fiji.
 Best Field Indicators are crystal habit, density, softness, color, luster, association
with other tellurides and gold and cleavage.

MINERAL LIMONITE
 Chemistry: A mixture of hydrated iron oxides
 Class: Oxides and Hydroxides
 Uses: Important ore of iron, as a pigment and as mineral specimens.
 Specimens
 Color is yellow, orange, reddish brown, brownish black.
 Luster is earthy to dull.
 Transparency is opaque.
 Crystal System is undefined.
 Crystal Habits include massive, layered, botryoidal and stalactitic.
 Cleavage is absent.
 Fracture is crumbly or earthy.
 Hardness is variable 4 - 5.5
 Specific Gravity is variable at 2.9 to 4.3 (average to above average)
 Streak is brownish yellow to yellow.
  Associated Minerals include a large list of minerals particularly secondary deposit
minerals.
 Notable Occurrences include many iron mines around the world, especially nice
specimens come from Europe, Mexico, Canada and northeastern USA.
 Best Field Indicators are lack of crystal forms, lack of cleavage and streak.

MINERAL BROCHANTITE
 Chemistry: Cu4SO4(OH)6, Copper Sulfate Hydroxide.
 Class: Sulfates
 Uses: A minor ore of copper and as mineral specimens.
 Specimens
 Color is a bright emerald green or dark green to almost black.
 Luster is vitreous to pearly on cleavage surfaces.
 Transparency: Crystals are transparent to translucent.
 Crystal System is monoclinic; 2/m.
 Crystal Habits include acicular or fibrous crystals aggregated into coatings and tufts
as well as small tabular crystals and reniform, massive or granular specimens.
Terminations tend to be rounded or dome-like. Twinning is common and gives an
orthorhombic look to larger crystals.
 Cleavage is perfect in one direction nearly perpendicular to length.
 Fracture is uneven.
 Hardness is 3.5 - 4
 Specific Gravity is approximately 3.9+ (above average for translucent minerals)
 Streak is green.
 Other Characteristics: Does not effervesce in hydrochloric acid.
 Associated Minerals are limonite, cuprite, chrysocolla, cyanotrichite, malachite,
langite, posnjakite and azurite.
 Notable Occurrences include numerous locations in Chile; Ural Mountains, Russia;
England; Italy; Romania; Zaire and several locations in Arizona, Nevada, California,
New Mexico and Utah, USA.
 Best Field Indicators are crystal habit, associations, hardness, cleavage, non-reaction
to hydrochloric acid and color.

MINERAL DIGENITE
 Chemistry: Cu9S5, Copper Sulfide.
 Class: Sulfides
 Uses: As an important ore of copper and as mineral specimens.
 Specimens

 Color is blue or black.

 Luster is submetallic.
 Transparency crystals are opaque.
  Crystal System is isometric.
 Crystal Habits are limited to mostly massive and granular components of massive
sulfide rocks, but a few localities have produced good crystals.
 Hardness is 2.5 - 3
 Specific Gravity is approximately 5.6 (above average for metallic minerals)
 Associated Minerals include pyrite, chalcocite, bornite and chalcopyrite.
 Notable Occurrences include many mines around the world that contain copper
sulfides such as in Sweden; Australia; South-West Africa and several copper mines in
Arizona, Butte Montana and Kennecott, Alaska, USA.
 Best Field Indicators are color, associations, softness and density.

MINERAL CERUSSITE

 Chemistry: PbCO3, Lead Carbonate

 Class: Carbonate
 Group: Aragonite
 Uses: As an ore of lead and as mineral specimens.
 Specimens
 Color is usually colorless or white, also gray, yellow, and even blue-green.
 Luster is adamantine to almost submetallic and sometimes greasy.
 Transparency Crystals are transparent to translucent.
 Crystal System is orthorhombic; 2/m 2/m 2/m.
 Crystal Habits twinning is common and expected (see above), single crystals can be
prismatic with blunted pyramidal terminations. Some specimens show acicular white
crystals. Also, reniform, earthy, and crusty varieties are found.
 Cleavage is not as good as other carbonates, but still considered good in one
direction.
 Fracture is conchoidal and brittle.
 Hardness is 3-3.5.
 Specific Gravity is 6.5+ (very dense for a generally transparent mineral).
 Streak is white or colorless.
 Other Characteristics: Refractive index of 2.07 (very high) and prismatic crystals
are striated lengthwise.
 Associated Minerals are barite, calcite, anglesite, and other secondary minerals and
especially galena.
 Notable Occurrences include Tsumeb, Nambia; Congo; Morocco; Australia;
Germany, Leadville, Colorado and Arizona, USA.
 Best Field Indicators are its crystal habit (especially twins), heaviness, high
refraction and luster.

MINERAL ANGLESITE
 Chemistry: PbSO4 , Lead Sulfate
 Class: Sulfates
 Group: Barite
 Uses: a minor ore of lead
 Specimens
 Color is usually colorless, white and yellow; also pale gray, blue and green.
 Luster is adamantine.
 Transparency crystals are transparent to translucent.
 Crystal System is orthorhombic; 2/m 2/m 2/m
 Crystal Habits include the bladed or tabular crystals that are dominated by two large
pinacoid faces top and bottom and small prism faces forming a jutting angle on every
side. There are many variations of these faces and complex forms can occur. If the
pinacoid faces become diminished or are absent, the resulting prismatic crystal has a
rhombic cross section.. Anglesite typically forms a flattened blade that juts out from a
host rock and with what appears to be a steep dome termination but is actually two
faces of another rhombic prism. Also forms crusts and is granular and massive.
 Cleavage is perfect in one direction, less so in two other directions.
 Fracture is conchoidal.
 Hardness is 2.5 - 3.
 Specific Gravity is approximately 6.3+ (very heavy for translucent minerals)
 Streak is white.
 Associated Minerals are galena, cerussite, barite and limonite.
 Other Characteristics: Index of refraction is 1.88+ (very high), some specimens
fluoresce yellow under UV light.
 Notable Occurances include Tsumeb, Nambia; Australia; England, Mexico and
Toussit, Morocco.
 Best Field Indicators are crystal habit, density, high luster and color.

MINERAL SMITHSONITE
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 Chemistry: ZnCO3, Zinc carbonate

 Class: Carbonates
 Group: Calcite
 Uses: Minor ore of zinc and as mineral specimens.
 Specimens
 Color is commonly apple green, blue-green, lavender, purple, yellow and white as
well as tan, brown, blue, orange, peach, colorless, gray, pink and red.
 Luster is usually pearly to resinous with light play across its surface and sometimes is
simply vitreous.
 Transparency: Crystals are transparent to translucent.
 Crystal System is trigonal; bar 3 2/m
 Crystal Habits include the rhombohedrons and scalenohedrons with generally curved
faces. But more commonly is botryoidal or globular.
 Cleavage is perfect in three directions forming rhombohedrons.
 Fracture is uneven.
 Hardness is 4 - 4.5.
 Specific Gravity is approximately 4.4 (heavy for nonmetallic minerals)
 Streak is white.
  Associated Minerals are those found in oxidation zones of zinc sulfide deposits such
as hemimorphite, cerussite, wulfenite, limonite, mimetite, dolomite, hydrozincite,
aurichalcite, calcite and other carbonate minerals.
 Other Characteristics: Effervesces slightly with warm hydrochloric (HCl) acid.
 Noteable Occurrences include Tsumeb, Namibia and the Broken Hill Mine in
Zambia; the Kelly Mine, Magdalena, New Mexico; Leadville, Colorado; Utah; Idaho
and Arizona, USA; Mexico; Laurion, Greece; Bytom, Poland; Moresnet, Belgium and
many other localities.
 Best Field Indicators are luster, typical botryoidal habit, cleavage, hardness, reaction
to hot acids and density.

Mineral ZINCITE
 Chemical Formula: ZnO , Zinc Oxide
 Class: Oxides and Hydroxides
 Uses: An ore of zinc and as mineral specimens.
 Specimens
 Color is orange-yellow to deep red or brown.
 Luster is adamantine.
 Transparency crystals are commonly translucent more rarely transparent.
 Crystal System is hexagonal; 6 m m
 Crystal Habits include rarely well shaped, over all, hemimorphic pyramidal crystals
sometimes with an hexagonal prism terminated by the basal face of a pedion on one
side and the sharp point of the pyramid on the other. Usually found as rounded
granular crystals; also massive in veins and lamellar.
 Cleavage is good in three directions (prismatic).
 Fracture is conchoidal.
 Hardness is 4
 Specific Gravity is 5.4 - 5.7 (slightly heavy even for metallic minerals)
 Streak is orange-yellow.
 Other Characteristics: There is a basal parting.
 Associated Minerals include calcite, rhodonite, willemite, franklinite, tephorite,
pyroxmangite and other rare Sterling Hill and Franklin, New Jersey minerals.
 Notable Occurrences include the Sterling Hill and Franklin, New Jersey, USA
locations where it is found in abundance. Some occurrences from where zincite is
found but in much scarcer quantities include Tuscany, Italy; Tsumeb, Namibia; the
Dick Weber Mine, Colorado, USA; Poland, Spain and Tasmania, Australia.
 Best Field Indicators are luster, color, occurrence, associations, cleavage, parting
and streak.
MINERAL PENTLANDITE
 Chemistry: (Fe, Ni)9S8, Iron Nickel Sulfide.
 Class: Sulfides
 Group: Pentlandite
 Uses: As the principle ore of nickel, a minor ore of iron and as mineral
specimens.
 Specimens
 Color is muted brassy to bronze yellow.
 Luster is metallic.
 Transparency crystals are opaque.
 Crystal System is isometric; 4/m bar 3 2/m
 Crystal Habits are limited to mostly massive rock forming formations and as
granular components of massive sulfide rocks.
 Hardness is 3.5 - 4
 Specific Gravity is approximately 4.6 - 5.0 (average for metallic minerals)
 Streak is light brown to light bronze.
 Other Characteristics: Octahedral parting is generally evident as odd cracks or
fractures in the massive material and the lack of any magnetism helps differentiate it
from the similar and often associated pyrrhotite.
 Associated Minerals include pyrrhotite, niccolite, biotite, millerite, pyrite and
chalcopyrite
 Notable Occurrences include a large deposit at Sudbury, Ontario and smaller
deposits at Lynn Lake and Moak Lake, Manitoba and Malartic, Quebec, Canada;
Ducktown, Tennessee and San Diego County, California, USA; Russia; Bushveld,
Transvaal, South Africa and Lillehammer, Norway.
 Best Field Indicators are parting, associations, lack of magnetism, streak and color.

RHODOCHROSITE

 Chemistry: MnCO3, Manganese Carbonate

 Class: Carbonates

 Group: Calcite Group

 Uses: As a minor ore of manganese, an ornamental and semi-precious gemstone and as mineral
specimens.

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 Color is red to pink, sometimes almost white, yellow and brown.

 Luster is vitreous to resinous.

 Transparency: Crystals are transparent to translucent.

 Crystal System is trigonal; bar 3 2/m.

 Crystal Habits include the rhombohedrons and scalahedrons with rounded or curved faces that
can obscure the crystal shape. Some crystals can be flattened to a bladed habit and these are
sometimes aggregated into rosettes or minute crystals into spherules. Also botryoidal, globular,
stalactitic, layered, nodular, vein-filling and granular. Twinning is somewhat common forming
penetration twins and contact twins similar to calcite's twins.

 Cleavage is perfect in three directions forming rhombohedrons.

 Fracture is uneven.

 Hardness is 3.5 - 4.

 Specific Gravity is approximately 3.5 (above average)

 Streak is white.

 Other Characteristics: Pink and white banding in massive forms, non-fluorescence and specimens
effervesce easily with dilute acids.

 Associated Minerals include calcite, ankerite, alabandite, rhodonite, bementite, spessartine,

fluorite, manganite, quartz and many metal sulfides.

 Notable Occurrences are numerous and include the famous Sweet Home Mine, Alma, Park County
and American Tunnel, Silverton, Colorado; Butte, Montana; the mines of Franklin, New Jersey;
Humboldt Mine, Cochise County, Arizona and many sites in California, USA. Also found in Catamarca,
Argentine; Huaron Mine and several mines in Ancash Department, Peru; Kara oba, Kazakhatan;
Sacrimb, Transylvania, Romania; Cornwall, England; Harz Mountains, Germany; Tsumeb, Otavi,
Namibia; Santa Eulalia and Magdalena, Mexico; N'Chwanging Mine, Hotazel, South Africa; Mont
Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada and many other localities from around the world. - See more at:
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MINERAL MARCASITE
 Chemistry: FeS2, Iron Sulfide
 Class: Sulfides
 Group: Marcasite Group
 Uses: Only as mineral specimens.
  Specimens
  Color is brassy yellow with a greenish tint at times. A multi-colored tarnish may exist that
is the result of oxidation.
  Luster is metallic.
  Transparency: Crystals are opaque.
  Crystal System is orthorhombic; 2/m 2/m 2/m
  Crystal Habits include the tabular, bladed or prismatic forms. A twinning effect produces
spear shaped crystal and repeated twinning produces a "cock's comb" cluster. Also massive,
botryoidal, stalactitic and nodular. Sometimes as a replacement mineral of fossils and a
pseudomorph of pyrite.
  Cleavage is poor in two directions.
  Fracture is uneven.
  Hardness is 6 - 6.5
  Specific Gravity is approximately 4.8+ (average for metallic minerals)
  Streak is greenish to brownish black.
  Other Characteristics: A sulfur smell is sometimes detectable.
  Associated Minerals are calcite, dolomite, quartz, goethite, fluorite, pyrrhotite, bornite,
chalcocite, sphalerite, pyrite, galena and other sulfides.
  Notable Occurrences are widespread, but the more notable sites include Joplin, Missouri;
Grant County, Wisconsin and Hardin County, Illinios, USA; Guanajuato, Mexico; Escale Pas
de Calais, France; Peru; China and Russia.

FLUORITE
"The Most Colorful
Mineral in the World"
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 Chemistry: CaF2, Calcium Fluoride

 Class: Halides
 Uses: As a flux (hence the name) in iron smelting, a rare gemstone, a source of fluorine, as
special optical lenses and a popular mineral specimen.
 Physical Properties.
 Specimens

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 Color is extremely variable and many times can be an intense purple, blue, green or yellow; also
colorless, reddish orange, pink, white and brown. A single crystal can be multi-colored.
 Luster is vitreous.

 Transparency: Crystals are transparent to translucent.

 Crystal System: Isometric; 4/m bar 3 2/m

 Crystal Habits include the typical cube and to a lesser extent, the octahedron as well as
combinations of these two and other rarer isometric habits. Always with equant crystals; less
common are crusts and botryoidal forms. Twinning also produces penetration twins that look like
two cubes grown together.

 Cleavage is perfect in 4 directions forming octahedrons.

 Fracture is irregular and brittle.

 Hardness is 4

 Specific Gravity is 3.1+ (average)

 Streak is white.

 Other Characteristics: Often fluorescent blue or more rarely green, white, red or violet and may
be thermoluminescent, phosphorescent and triboluminescent.

 Associated Minerals are many and include calcite, quartz, willemite, barite, witherite, apatite,
chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, pyrite and other sulfides.

 Notable Occurrences include in addition to those mentioned above Cumberland, England; Spain;
China; Brazil; Morocco; Bancroft, Ontario, Canada; Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico; Germany; Elmwood,
Tennessee; Rosiclare, Illinois; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Pugh Quarry and Wood County, Ohio; Nancy
Hanks Mine, Colorado and many other USA localities as well as many other localities from around
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