Element

Ore

Chrome

Chromite

Lead

Mercury

Picture

Formula
FeCr2O4

Cerussite

PbCO3

Galena

PbS

Cinnabar

HgS

Description and
information
Dark and opaque.
Slighty shiny.
Chromite is the only
ore of chromium.
Chromium is used to
plate other metals (as
chrome), since it is
shiny and doesn't
rust.
Chromite bricks are
used to line blast
furnaces, as they can
resist extremely high
temperatures.
White or grey.
these crystals have
combined or twinned
to form an interesting
shape.
Cerussite was used
as an early cosmetic.
Elizabeth the First
used cerussite as a
cosmetic for whiten
her face. Since it is
poisonous, it
damaged the skin
Shiny with square
crystals interlocking
with each other. The
thing you notice most
with galena is how
heavy it is.
Galena was used as
as an early cosmetic
like cerussite.
Nowadays, lead is
used in storage
batteries.
Red
Mercury (sometimes
called quicksilver) is a
liquid metal. It is used
for thermometers.

Barium

Barite

BaSO4

Zinc

Zincite

ZnO

Sphalerite

ZnS

Cassiterite

SnO2

Tin

transparent or whitish
translucent. Its
crystals can be like
the ones in the
photograph, or they
can be flakes. The
lustre of a mineral
describes how it
reflects light. Metals
often have a metallic
lustre, which means
that they're very
shiny. Barite has a
vitreous lustre, which
means that it looks
like glass.
Barium is used as a
dressing for textiles,
as an additive to
paper pulp, and in
sugar refining.
Orange and
translucent, or
transparent.
Zinc combined with
copper makes brass.
Zinc is also used in
batteries.
Dark and shiny. The
photograph shows
sphalerite crystals,
but they are the dark
lumps.
Sphalerite looks
similar to galena,
hence its name.
Originally miners
thought that
sphalerite was
useless, before it was
discovered that it is a
rich zinc ore.
Reddish brown. It can
have crystals,
although this
specimen is massive
(meaning the crystals
are so small that you
can't see them).
Tin used to be slang
for money, perhaps

because it looked like

silver. Coins were
never made of tin!
Tin cans are so-called
because they were
made of steel coated
in tin. tin is still used
for coating metals.
Whitish crystal,
sometimes looking
pink.
Kunzite is
dichromatic, which
means that it shows
different colours if
you look at it in
different directions.

Lithium

Kunzite

LiAlSi2O6

Strontium

Celestine

SrSO4

Pale blue translucent

crystals, although it
can be white.

Niobium

Columbite

(Fe,Mn)
(Nb,Ta)2
O6

Brownish black to
black crystals.
Columbite contains
both Niobium and
Tantalum.

Manganes
e

Manganite

MnO(OH
)

Black needle crystal.

Manganese is used to
make alloy steels.
Steel is mostly iron,
but has other metals
such as Manganese in
it.

Rhodonite

(Mn,Fe,C
a)
SiO3

The gleamy pink stuff

is rhodonite. There
are often black veins
in it.

Rhodochro
site

MnCO3

Orpiment

As2S3

Realgar

AsS

Antimony

Stibnite

Sb2S3

Uranium

Autunite

Ca(UO2)2

Arsenic

(PO4)2.10
-12H2O

Usually pink and

white stripes.
Rhodochrosite is
sometimes used as
jewelry. It is similar to
Rhodonite. You can
tell the difference
between them as
Rhodonite is darker
pink, and can have
black bits in, while
Rhodochrosite is pale
pink, with white bits
in.
Bright yellow. If
exposed to light, it
tends to turn red.
Orpiment used to be
used as a pigment.
Arsenic is used in
semi-conductors.
Red
The Realgar in this
specimen is the red
streaks.
Realgar used to be
used as a pigment,
although it was
poisonous, as it is an
ore of Arsenic.
Shiny grey metal
crystals coming to a
point.
This was used as a
medicine by the
Greeks and Romans,
and also as a
cosmetic "to dilate
women's eyes"
Yellowish green. It
crumbles easily.
Uranium is
radioactive. It is used
to generate
electricity, and also in
nuclear weapons.

Titanium

Sphene

CaTiSiO5

Vanadium

Vanadinite

Pb5(VO4)
3Cl

Molybden
um

Molybdenit
e

MoS2

Gold

Gold

Au

Greenish yellow
translucent wedgeshaped crystal.
Sphene can be
opaque and almost
black.
Sphene is an ore of
titanium, which has a
very high melting
point, and is used to
make high-speed
planes.
Brownish red
hexangonal crystals
A compound of
Vanadium is also an
important catalyst in
the manufacture of
sulphuric acid. A
catalyst is a chemical
which helps a
chemical reaction to
happen, without
being changed itself
by the reaction.
Hexangonal shiny
metallic crystal,
which you can bend
easily.
Molydbenite contains
Molybdenum, which
is used in the
manufacture of steel.
It is also used as a
solid lubricant (to
reduce friction).
Bright yellow metal.
Gold is a precious
metal. It has been
widely used for
jewelry, as it is fairly
soft and easy for
work, it never rusts or
tarnishes, and it is an
attractive colour. The
sample above is
natural gold in
quartz. It is covered
with varnish to
protect it.

Silver

Silver

Ag

Iron

Pyrite

FeS2

Marcasite

FeS2

Hematite

Fe2O3

Bright silver metal.

Silver is a precious
metal. It is used for
jewelry, but it tends
to tarnish. It was
used for cutlery and
tea-pots, and often
handed down as
heirlooms.
Pyrite is shiny and
faintly tinged with
yellow. Pyrites has
two different shapes
of crystals.
Pyrite is sometimes
called Fool's Gold,
although chalcopyrite
is perhaps more
convincing.
It is possible to find
pyrites crystals as
simple shapes, but
usually these are
several crystals
jumbled together.
Marcasite is very
similar to Pyrites. It is
slightly lighter,and
the crystals are
sometimes spear-like.

There are several

different formas of
Hematite. There is
the dull red, opaque,
dull, botryoidal (or
blobby) form. There is
a very shiny, dark
metal (which is
sometimes a crystal),
and there is Rainbow
Hematite, which
shimers with colour.

Copper

Goethite

FeO(OH)

Magnetite

Fe3O4

Copper

Cu

Malachite

Cu2CO3
(OH)2

Chalcopyrit
e

CuFeS2

Dark brown crystals.

This photograph
shows goethite
crystals on grey rock.
Goethite has the
same chemical
formula as Limonite,
which can be bright
yellow! Yellow
Limonite is yellow
ochre, which has
been used as a
pigment for paint and
cosmetics throughout
history and before
Dark grey, slightly
shiny.
Magnetite is naturally
magnetic. It is also
called Lodestone.
Copper is a beautiful
colour, pinky gold.
Since it is a metal, it
is shiny (metallic
lustre) and opaque. It
is also quite heavy.
Sometimes, you see
crystals.
copper is used for
water pipes (rather
than lead, which is
poisonous), and
electrical wiring.
Malachite has a
particular shade of
green, which is easy
to recognise. It has
layers of pale and
dark green, which
can show as straight,
curved or wiggly
lines. It is opaque. It
is botryoidal (blobby).
Chalcopyrite is silvery
with a golden tinge to
it.
Chalcopyrite, or
copper pyrites, has
been mistaken for
gold, just as iron
pyrites has, so both

Turquoise

CuAl6(PO
4 )4
(OH)8.5H
2O

Peacock
Ore

Cu5FeS4

Azurite

Cu3(CO3)
2

minerals are called

Fool's Gold.
Chalcopyrites is
yellower
The mineral Turquoise
gives its name to the
colour, but it can also
be pale blue. Opaque.

The iridescent colours

are on the surface, as
a tarnish. They
include green, yellow,
blue, reddishpurple ... The mineral
is opaque.
Peacock ore has
several other names,
Bornite, Erubescite
and Variegated
copper ore.
Azurite is dark blue. It
can have flat crystals.

(OH)2

Dioptase

CuSiO2
(OH)2

Dioptase has brilliant

green transparent
crystals.
It is a far more vivid
green than this. The
grey part round the
back is a piece of
rock where the
crystals grow, called
the "matrix".