Rock & Mineral Encyclopedia

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

Imperial Garnet

A trade name for high-brilliance golden grossular-andradite (grandite) garnet, most associated with the Mali deposits of West Africa.

A rare grossular-andradite blend ('grandite') from Mali, prized for its high brilliance and golden-green to yellow color.

A high-grade metamorphic gneiss of garnet, sillimanite, quartz, and graphite, derived from ancient aluminous sediments.

A durable magnesium aluminum oxide gem that occurs in many colors and was long mistaken for ruby.

A combustible black sedimentary rock formed from ancient plant matter and burned for centuries as a primary fossil fuel.

A man-made glittering glass colored deep blue with cobalt and studded with tiny copper crystals that mimic a starry night sky.

Obsidian with a vivid blue sheen or hue; natural blue obsidian is rare, and intensely uniform blue material is usually manufactured glass.

Small, intensely red chrome-pyrope garnets from the Czech Bohemian region, famous for densely set antique Victorian jewelry.

Abundant banded chalcedony from southern Brazil, the world's main source of agate slices and dyed agate products.

Molybdenite is the primary ore of molybdenum, a soft, greasy, silver-gray sulfide that closely resembles graphite.

A hydrated volcanic glass with pearly, onion-like concentric cracks that pops into lightweight white granules when heated.