Rock Identifier

Rock & Mineral Encyclopedia

Search and identify 1,000+ rocks, minerals, crystals, and gemstones — with properties, formation, colors, hardness, and how to tell them apart.

Gahnite

Gahnite

A hard zinc-rich member of the spinel group, usually dark blue-green to black, forming octahedral crystals in metamorphic and pegmatitic rocks.

mineral
Lujavrite

Lujavrite

A dark, layered agpaitic nepheline syenite rich in sodic pyroxene and amphibole with eudialyte, from the Lovozero and Ilimaussaq complexes.

igneous
Green Garnet

Green Garnet

An umbrella term for green members of the garnet group, including prized tsavorite, demantoid, and rare chrome-rich uvarovite.

gemstone
Pezzottaite

Pezzottaite

A rare cesium-rich, beryl-related gem mineral with a raspberry-pink color, first found in Madagascar in 2002.

gemstone

Dallasite Jasper

A green-and-white volcanic breccia from Vancouver Island, cemented by jasper and rich in epidote, popular as a regional lapidary stone.

gemstone
Tourmaline

Tourmaline

A boron-rich silicate gemstone group famous for occurring in every color of the rainbow, sometimes several within a single crystal.

gemstone

Wehrite

An ultramafic rock of olivine and clinopyroxene, a peridotite variety common as cumulate layers in mafic intrusions.

igneous
Titanite

Titanite

A calcium titanium silicate, gem-known as sphene, famous for fiery dispersion that exceeds diamond and rich green-to-yellow colors.

gemstone
Vanadium Tourmaline

Vanadium Tourmaline

Vanadium-colored tourmaline, including the species vanadium dravite, producing rich emerald-green hues similar to chrome tourmaline.

mineral
Olenite

Olenite

A rare aluminum-rich species of the tourmaline group, usually colorless to pale, named for the Olenii Range in Russia's Kola Peninsula.

mineral
Liddicoatite

Liddicoatite

A rare calcium-rich lithium tourmaline famous for the spectacular concentric color zoning seen in polished cross-section slices.

mineral
Raspberry Beryl

Raspberry Beryl

A trade name for raspberry-pink beryl-family gems, most often the cesium-rich mineral pezzottaite from Madagascar.

gemstone
Peristerite

Peristerite

A sodium-rich plagioclase moonstone whose fine intergrowth lamellae scatter light into a delicate blue, pigeon-neck sheen.

gemstone

Burgundy Tourmaline

A deep wine-red to maroon tourmaline colored by manganese, a rich darker-toned member of the red-pink rubellite family.

gemstone
London Blue Topaz

London Blue Topaz

The deepest, most saturated blue grade of treated topaz, prized for its rich steely-blue color and durability in jewelry.

gemstone
Emerald

Emerald

The green chromium- and vanadium-colored variety of beryl, one of the four classic precious gemstones renowned for its rich green color.

gemstone
Celsian

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
Graphic Feldspar

Graphic Feldspar

A pegmatite rock of feldspar intergrown with wedge-shaped quartz that resembles ancient runic or Hebrew writing.

igneous

Diatomaceous Earth

Soft, lightweight siliceous rock made of fossilized diatom shells, valued as a filter, abrasive, and absorbent.

sedimentary

Semiblack Opal

Opal with a dark grey body tone sitting between black and light opal, giving play-of-color rich contrast at an accessible price.

gemstone
Dumortierite

Dumortierite

A hard aluminum borosilicate famous for its rich denim-blue color, often forming dense fibrous masses or coloring quartz blue.

mineral

Green Jade

The classic green ornamental gem, either jadeite or nephrite, valued for millennia for its toughness and rich color, especially imperial green.

gemstone

Luxullianite

A distinctive tourmaline-rich granite from Cornwall, prized as an ornamental stone for its pink feldspar set with radiating black tourmaline.

igneous

Marl

A soft, earthy sedimentary rock made of a mixture of calcium carbonate and clay, intermediate between limestone and mudstone.

sedimentary