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.

Woodward Ranch Agate

Plume and fortification agate from the famous Woodward Ranch near Alpine, Texas, known for red and pink plumes.

gemstone
Montana Moss Agate

Montana Moss Agate

A translucent chalcedony from Montana filled with black and red dendritic inclusions that look like moss, ferns, or scenic landscapes.

gemstone

Graveyard Point Agate

A celebrated plume agate from the Oregon-Idaho border, known for dramatic black, gold, and red plumes in clear chalcedony.

gemstone

Carey Plume Agate

A prized plume agate from near Carey, Idaho, showing red, pink and black feathery plumes floating in translucent chalcedony.

gemstone

Swazi Lace Agate

A swirling, intricately banded lace agate from Eswatini (Swaziland) in soft greys, blues and lavenders with delicate folded patterns.

gemstone
Mexican Lace Agate

Mexican Lace Agate

A vividly swirling banded agate from northern Mexico with intricate looping patterns in warm reds, golds and creams.

gemstone

Pigeon Blood Agate

A richly colored red banded agate prized by lapidaries for its deep crimson-to-brown tones reminiscent of pigeon's blood.

gemstone

Crowley Ridge Agate

Agate found in the gravels of Crowley's Ridge in northeastern Arkansas, a stream-transported banded chalcedony.

gemstone
Snake Skin Agate

Snake Skin Agate

A chalcedony with a distinctive scaly, reptile-skin surface texture, typically in pale tan, pink, and gray tones.

gemstone

Owyhee Blue Agate

A soft sky-blue chalcedony from the Owyhee region of Oregon and Idaho, prized for its calming, opaque powder-blue color.

gemstone
Holley Blue Agate

Holley Blue Agate

A rare translucent lavender-blue agate from the Holley area of Oregon, prized for its soft purple-blue color.

gemstone
Teepee Canyon Agate

Teepee Canyon Agate

A fortification agate from the Black Hills of South Dakota, known for tight, colorful banding closely related to the famous Fairburn agate.

gemstone

Dragon Vein Agate

A treated chalcedony with a network of crackled veins, usually heated and dyed in vivid colors for affordable, eye-catching beads.

gemstone

Sardonyx

A banded chalcedony combining reddish-brown sard with white or black onyx layers, prized since antiquity for carved cameos.

gemstone
Travertine

Travertine

A banded, porous limestone deposited by mineral springs, prized as a warm-toned natural building and tile stone.

sedimentary
Coal

Coal

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

sedimentary
Schist

Schist

A medium-grade metamorphic rock rich in aligned platy minerals that gives it a shiny, easily splitting, foliated texture.

metamorphic
Maxixe Aquamarine

Maxixe Aquamarine

A deep blue beryl whose intense color comes from radiation-induced color centers and tends to fade in light, named after the Maxixe mine in Brazil.

gemstone
Itabirite

Itabirite

A metamorphosed banded iron formation of alternating quartz and iron-oxide layers, mined as a major iron ore.

metamorphic

Maxixe

A deep blue beryl with a color caused by radiation that fades in light, named after the Maxixe mine in Brazil.

gemstone
Green Marble

Green Marble

A green ornamental stone, often serpentine-rich marble or verde antique, valued for its rich green color and white veining.

metamorphic
Copper-Bearing Tourmaline

Copper-Bearing Tourmaline

Tourmaline colored by copper, producing the famous vivid neon blues, greens and teals known commercially as Paraiba-type gems.

gemstone
Chevron Amethyst

Chevron Amethyst

A naturally banded quartz combining purple amethyst and white quartz in striking V-shaped chevron or zigzag patterns.

crystal
Cape Ruby

Cape Ruby

Cape Ruby is a deep red pyrope garnet from South African diamond deposits, prized as an affordable, fiery alternative to ruby.

gemstone