Rock & Mineral Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ rocks, minerals, crystals, and gemstones — with properties, formation, colors, hardness, and how to tell them apart.
Yellow Garnet
A trade term for yellow garnets, including golden grossular, yellow andradite (topazolite), and yellow-green Mali garnet.
gemstoneMaxixe
A deep blue beryl with a color caused by radiation that fades in light, named after the Maxixe mine in Brazil.
gemstone
Orange Tourmaline
A warm orange to tangerine tourmaline, an uncommon hue produced by manganese and iron in the crystal.
gemstone
Diabase
A tough, dark, medium-grained igneous rock with the composition of basalt, common in dikes and sills.
igneous
Boninite
A rare high-magnesium andesite formed in young subduction zones, named for Japan's Bonin Islands.
igneous
Moss Opal
A common opal containing moss- or fern-like mineral inclusions that resemble plants suspended in a pale silica body.
gemstone
Tinguaite
A fine-grained green phonolitic dike rock rich in nepheline and aegirine, the hypabyssal equivalent of phonolite.
igneousSilver
A soft, lustrous white native metal with the highest electrical conductivity, used in jewelry, coinage, and industry.
mineralHydroandradite
A hydrous, iron-rich garnet of the hydrogarnet group in which hydroxyl groups substitute for silica within the andradite structure.
mineral
Chrome Pyrope
A chromium-rich pyrope garnet whose intense blood-red color comes from chromium, often mined from ant hills and kimberlite weathering.
gemstone
Pyrope Garnet
The magnesium-rich garnet famed for its intense blood-red 'fire,' historically the Bohemian garnet of Victorian jewelry.
gemstone
Cave Creek Jasper
An opaque jasper from the Cave Creek area of Arizona, prized for earthy mottled and banded patterns in warm desert tones.
mineral
Feldspathic Sandstone
A feldspar-rich sandstone, often pink, that points to granitic source rocks eroded quickly in dry or cold climates.
sedimentary
Mookaite Jasper
An Australian silicified radiolarite jasper in warm mustard, red, burgundy, and cream earth tones, found only in Western Australia.
sedimentary
Strontium Feldspar
Feldspar in which strontium dominates the large cation site, represented mainly by the rare mineral slawsonite.
mineralWhite Cliffs Opal
Precious opal from the historic White Cliffs field in New South Wales, Australia, famous for light opal and rare opal pineapples.
gemstone
Tanzanite
A blue-violet zoisite found only in Tanzania, famous for its vivid trichroic color and rarity.
gemstone
Barium Feldspar
The barium end-member of the feldspar group, represented by celsian, occurring in barium-rich metamorphic and manganese deposits.
mineral
Celsian
A rare barium-rich feldspar that forms in manganese and barium-enriched metamorphic and hydrothermal deposits, the barium end-member of the feldspar family.
mineral
Raspberry Garnet
A vivid pinkish-red rhodolite garnet named for its raspberry color, a bright pyrope-almandine blend popular in jewelry.
gemstonePearl
An organic gem formed inside mollusks from layered nacre, prized for its iridescent luster and classic elegance.
gemstone
Strawberry Garnet
A bright strawberry-red garnet, typically an almandine-pyrope blend prized for its juicy, lively red color in jewelry.
gemstone
Color-Change Tourmaline
A rare tourmaline that visibly changes color between daylight and incandescent light, similar to the alexandrite effect.
gemstone
Golden Feldspar
A trade name for golden-yellow gem feldspars, including golden orthoclase, golden sunstone, and golden labradorite.
gemstone