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.

Turquoise

Turquoise

A prized blue to blue-green copper-aluminium phosphate, often veined with dark matrix, treasured for jewelry across many cultures.

mineral

Canary Tourmaline

The vivid, pure yellow tourmaline marketed as canary, a rare manganese-rich variety from Zambia and Malawi.

gemstone
Oolite

Oolite

A limestone made of tiny spherical ooids, resembling fish roe, formed in warm, agitated shallow seas.

sedimentary
Lemon Tourmaline

Lemon Tourmaline

A bright lemon-to-canary yellow tourmaline colored by manganese, among the more cheerful and uncommon hues in the tourmaline family.

gemstone
Bruneau Jasper

Bruneau Jasper

A prized Idaho picture jasper from Bruneau Canyon known for brown and cream orbicular egg-rock patterns and scenic landscapes.

mineral
Mustard Jasper

Mustard Jasper

A warm mustard-to-ochre yellow jasper colored by iron, valued by lapidaries for its rich, earthy golden tone.

gemstone
Lemon Opal

Lemon Opal

A bright lemon-yellow opal, usually common opal, valued for its cheerful citrus color and translucent glow.

gemstone
Aragonite

Aragonite

A calcium carbonate mineral and polymorph of calcite, aragonite forms distinctive needle clusters, sea shells, and pearls.

mineral
Topazolite Garnet

Topazolite Garnet

A rare yellow to golden variety of andradite garnet, the topaz-colored cousin of green demantoid, prized for high dispersion and brilliance.

gemstone
Golden Beryl

Golden Beryl

The pure golden-yellow gem variety of beryl, colored by iron and valued for its clarity, brilliance, and durability.

gemstone
Golden Emerald

Golden Emerald

A trade name occasionally used for golden-yellow beryl (golden beryl or heliodor), the iron-colored yellow variety of the emerald mineral.

gemstone
Bumblebee Jasper

Bumblebee Jasper

A vivid yellow-and-black banded stone from Indonesian volcanic vents, colored by sulfur, arsenic minerals and iron oxides, not true jasper.

sedimentary
Limonite

Limonite

Limonite is an amorphous brown iron oxide ore, the rust-colored material behind ochre pigments and bog iron.

mineral
Marble

Marble

A metamorphosed limestone of interlocking calcite crystals, prized for sculpture and architecture for its workability and polish.

metamorphic
Cave Creek Jasper

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
Micrite

Micrite

A very fine-grained limestone made of microcrystalline calcite mud, dense and smooth, deposited in calm carbonate settings.

sedimentary

Alabaster

A soft, fine-grained, translucent form of gypsum (or banded calcite) long prized as a carving and ornamental stone.

mineral
Titanite

Titanite

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

gemstone
Carnotite

Carnotite

A bright yellow, radioactive potassium uranyl vanadate that is a major ore of both uranium and vanadium.

mineral
Calaverite

Calaverite

A brass- to silver-yellow gold telluride that is a major gold ore, famous from Cripple Creek and Kalgoorlie.

mineral
Heliodor

Heliodor

The golden-yellow gem variety of beryl, colored by iron, prized for its bright sunshine hue and excellent durability.

gemstone
Wulfenite

Wulfenite

A lead molybdate mineral famous for thin, brilliant orange to yellow tabular crystals, prized by collectors and an ore of molybdenum.

mineral
Danburite

Danburite

A glassy calcium borosilicate forming wedge-tipped prismatic crystals, usually colorless to pale yellow or pink, sometimes faceted as a gem.

crystal
Sulfur

Sulfur

A bright yellow native element mineral that forms around volcanic vents and hot springs and burns with a blue flame.

mineral