Category: Identifying Rocks and Minerals

Obsidian is one of those rocks that can be hard to identify for the inexperienced.  There are a few other types of rocks or minerals on our earth that can express the same appearance...

When it comes to identifying fluorite it can often be a bit difficult due to the visual nature of the mineral looking much like other minerals.  Many minerals will look like a crystal and...

Mica can be a bit of a difficult mineral to identify from some other minerals.  It can look like a piece of reflective metal at times, which in turn will often get confused as...

Septarian is considered to be a limestone rock and not a mineral.  This rock is highly collectible due to its unique identifiable look and has earned the names of “Dragon Stone” or “Dragon Egg”.  ...

Topaz is a favorite mineral for many and it makes a great substitute for cheaper and an alternative gemstone for jewelry.  It has a little more complicated chemical formula at  Al₂SiO₄(F,OH)₂ than some other...

If you have ever had the chance to hold some pyrite in your hand. You might recognize how different it looks from some metals such as gold.  The mineral pyrite has a metallic luster,...

Carnelian is one of those minerals that is included in the quartz family.  Though it does not look much like quartz at all, it holds the similar chemical ingredients of SiO₂ as most quartz...

Jasper is a mineral that is part of the quartz family.  Like much of the quartz family, jasper is a silica mineral and has a chemical formula of SiO₂.  What helps identify jasper is...