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Lecture 11
Introduction to Mineralogy 2

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 Colour
• Depends on the absorption, reflection or vibrations of light
• When a body reflects too little light, it appears black
• When it reflects all light, it appears white
• For some minerals, colour is the defining property and a constant. For
others, colour is the result of inclusions (impurities) in the crystal
structure such as with quartz
• Colour is especially important and constant for most metallic minerals,
but not so much for transparent to translucent minerals
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 Streak
• Colour of the mineral in its powdered form,
determined by rubbing the mineral against an
unglazed porcelain slab (streak plate) and
observing the mark made by it on the slab
• The streak of a mineral may be quite different from
its visible colour for eg. black hematite gives a
red-brown streak
• Although the colour of the mineral sample may be
variable, the streak generally remains constant
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 Luster
• Indicates the way a mineral's surface interacts with light and can range
from dull to glassy (vitreous)
• Metallic -high reflectivity like metal: e.g., galena and pyrite
• Sub-metallic -slightly less than metallic reflectivity: e.g. magnetite
• Non-metallic

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 Non-Metallic Luster
• Adamantine -brilliant, the luster of diamond
• Vitreous -the luster of broken glass: e.g. quartz
• Pearly -pearl-like: e.g. talc
• Resinous -the luster of resin: e.g. sulfur
• Silky -a soft light shown by fibrous materials: e.g. gypsum
• Dull/earthy -shown by finely crystallized minerals: e.g., a variety of
hematite
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 Cleavage
• The tendency of certain minerals to break along distinct planes in their crystal
structures where the bonds are weakest. This usually occurs where ionic bonds are
found in minerals.
• Types:
• Perfect: 3 or more good to perfect planes
• Parallel: 2 good to perfect planes
• Basal: one good to perfect plane
• Poor: 1 or 2 imperfect planes
• None: No planes = Fracture
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 Fracture
• If a mineral breaks randomly instead of
along cleavage planes
• Types:
• Conchoidal: Smooth or rough curved break
• Splintery: Fibrous or splintery break
• Hackly: Rough surface with sharp edges
• Uneven: Rough surfaces
Conchoidal fracture (curved
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 Hardness
• The degree of resistance of a given mineral to scratching
• Some minerals can be scratched easily, while others are almost impossible
to scratch
• Geologists developed Moh’s scale of hardness which places minerals on
a scale of 1 to 10
• Hardness is measured by scratching the mineral with substances of known
hardness, e.g. glass, fingernail

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 Specific Gravity
• Relates the mineral mass to the mass of an equal
volume of water, namely the density of the material.
• Example: Magnetite has a specific gravity value of
5.2, meaning 1cm3of magnetite will be 5.2 times as
heavy as 1cm3of water.
• Water: 1 g/cm3
• Quartz: 2.65 g/cm3
• Olivine: 3.37 –4.40 g/cm3
• Lead: 11 g/cm3
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20 g/cm3
 Other Properties
• Magnetism: Some minerals have magnetic properties, eg. Magnetite

• Radioactivity: Certain minerals contain radioactive elements eg. Carnotite

(potassium-uranium)

• Reaction to acid: Minerals may react to acid, eg. Calcite effervesces in HCL acid

• Crystal habit/form: The systematic internal arrangement of atoms in a mineral, for

example, Quartz has a unique crystal shape
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 Dana’s Classification of Minerals
• There are about 3000 different mineral species. The classification scheme is based on the
work of James B. Dana and Edward S. Dana in the 19th century.
• The system is defined as all those individual minerals characterized by an identical
structural motif and by a chemical composition which is variable within defined limits,
generally quite restricted, and which are in apparent thermodynamic equilibrium at
conditions effectively realized on Earth or in extraterrestrial bodies accessible to man.
• A species may have varieties, characterized by specific properties (chemical or physical)
which are very homogeneous but do not appear throughout the species. The varieties may
be divided up on the basis of colour, form, the presence of a particular substitution, of a
structural difference, of inclusions and so forth.
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 Classes of Minerals and approximate
number of minerals in that class
• Native Elements (with alloys, carbides, nitrides, phosphides) approx. 50
• Sulphides (with selenides, tellurides, arsenides, antinomides and bismuthides) approx. 300
• Halides approx. 100
• Oxides and hydroxides approx. 250
• Carbonates, nitrates and borates approx. 200
• Sulphates (with chromates, molybdates and tungstenates) approx. 200
• Phosphates, arsenates and vanadates approx. 350
• Silicates approx. 500
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 Classes of Minerals with examples
• Native elements: gold, copper
• Sulphides: pyrite, galena
• Halides: rock salt (halite), fluorite
• Oxides and Hydroxides: hematite, limonite
• Carbonates: calcite, dolomite
• Sulphates: gypsum, anhydrite
• Phosphates: apatite, monazite
• Silicates: quartz, biotite, plagioclase, olivine, hornblende
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 Native Elements
Gold
• This class is all those minerals that are composed of a single element
• Metals
• Gold Group (Gold, silver, copper, lead)
• Platinum Group (Platinum, palladium, mercury)
• Iron Group (Iron, Nickel)
• Semi-metals Sulphur
• Arsenic Group (Arsenic, antimony, bismuth)
• Non-metals
• Sulphur Group (Sulphur)
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Carbon
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Group (Diamond, graphite)
 Sulphides
• Sulphide minerals are compounds of one or more Pyrite: iron-
sulphide
metals or semi-metals bonded with sulphur
• Many sulphides are economically important as
metal ores
Galena: lead-
• Common sulphides include pyrite (iron-sulphide, sulphide
fool’s gold), chalcopyrite (copper-iron-sulphide),
galena (lead-sulphide) and sphalerite(zinc
sulphide)
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 Oxides and Hydroxides
• Oxygen combined with one or more metals (eg. ZnO= Zincite)
• This class of minerals contains several metal ores of great economic
importance:
• Hematite and magnetite: Iron ore
• Chromite: Chromium ore
• Zincite: Zinc ore
• Gibbsite: Aluminium ore
Hematite: oxygen with iron
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 Examples of Oxides and Hydroxides
• Simple Oxides • Multiple Oxides
• Zincite(ZnO) • Aluminium Spinels:
• Spinel (MgAl2O4),
• Cuprite (Cu2O) • Gahnite (ZnAl2O4)
• Hematite (Fe2O3)
• Rutile (TiO2) • Iron Spinels:
• Franklinite (Fe, Mn, Zn)(Fe, Mn)2O4,
• Magnetite: Fe3O4
• Hydroxides
• Chromium Spinels:
• Diaspore(AlO(OH)) • Chromite (FeCr2O4)
• Gibbsite (Al(OH)3)
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 Halides
• This class is composed of minerals in which an element from the halogen group of the
periodic table (F, Cl, Br, I) combines with either sodium, potassium, magnesium or
calcium
• The halides tend to be soft, brittle and easily soluble in water, and are commonly found in
evaporitic settings
• Common minerals of the halide group:
• Halite (NaCl)
• Sylvite(KCl)
• Fluorite (CaF2)
• Cryolite(Na3AlF6)
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 Carbonates
• The carbonate minerals consists of those minerals containing (CO3)2-
• Carbonates are commonly deposited in marine settings when the shells of
dead marine life (e.g. molluscs) settle and accumulate on the sea floor
• They may also be found in some evaporitic settings
• Common carbonate minerals include calcite, dolomite and aragonite

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 Carbonate Minerals
• Calcite and Dolomite Groups
• Calcite (CaCO3)
• Magnesite(MgCO3)
• Siderite (FeCO3)
• Dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2)
• Ankerite(CaFe(CO3)2)
• Aragonite Group and others
• Aragonite (CaCO3) –unstable at
standard temperature and pressure
and is replaced by calcite
• Witherite(BaCO3)
• Malachite (Cu2(CO3)(OH)2)
• Azurite (Cu2(CO3)(OH)2)

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 Sulphates
• Those minerals containing (SO4)2-
• Sulphates commonly occur in evaporitic settings where highly saline
waters slowly evaporate allowing for both halides and sulphates to form
• Common sulphates include anhydrite, gypsum and barite

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 Common Sulphates
• Anhydrous sulphates (having no water or OH group):
• Barite
• Celestite
• Anglesite
• Anhydrite
• Hydrated sulphates (having water or a OH group):
• Gypsum
• Epsomite
• Melanterite
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 Phosphates
• Minerals containing the elements phosphorous (or arsenic and vanadium)
combined with oxygen, and having the (PO4)3-ion radical
• The most common phosphate is apatite which is also an important
biological mineral found in the teeth and bones of many animals
• The phosphate class includes the phosphates, arsenates, vanadates and
antimonate minerals

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 Common Phosphates
• Anhydrous normal phosphates:
• Xenotime
• Monazite -–radioactive, contains the rare earth elements
• Hydrated normal phosphates:
• Vivianite
• Erythrite
• Phosphates with hydroxyl or halogen:
• Apatite –different varieties may contain OH-, F-, Cl-or Br-
• Vanadite
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 Silicates
• The silicates are the largest group of minerals, the most interesting and the
most complicated
• Approximately 30% of all minerals are silicates, and some geologists
estimate that 90% of the earth’s crust is made up of silicates
• They are composed largely of silicon and oxygen, with the addition of
ions such as Al, Mg, Fe and Ca
• Some important rock forming silicates includes the feldspars, quartz,
olivine, the pyroxenes, garnets, micas, and the amphiboles
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