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.

Lake Huron Agate

Lake Huron Agate

Glacially transported banded agates found along Lake Huron's shores, typically small, frosted pebbles with red-orange iron banding.

gemstone
Honduran Opal

Honduran Opal

Precious opal from Honduras occurring in a dark volcanic matrix, where bright flecks of color flash against a natural black basalt background.

gemstone
Graveyard Point Agate

Graveyard Point Agate

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

gemstone
Green Agate

Green Agate

A green-hued banded chalcedony, ranging from natural soft greens to brightly dyed commercial stones.

gemstone
Golden Healer Quartz

Golden Healer Quartz

Quartz colored or coated by golden iron oxides such as limonite or goethite, giving a warm sunlit yellow glow.

crystal
Fancy Jasper

Fancy Jasper

A soft-toned, multicolored jasper with swirling green, mauve, and cream patterns, popular and affordable in the bead trade.

sedimentary
Feather Jasper

Feather Jasper

A jasper marked with soft feather- or plume-like mineral inclusions that drift through a pale silica body.

mineral
Fairburn Agate

Fairburn Agate

The state gemstone of South Dakota, a rare fortification agate known for tight, holly-leaf concentric banding.

gemstone
Flower Jasper

Flower Jasper

A jasper whose radiating mineral clusters form flower-like rosettes scattered across an earthy background.

mineral
Flint

Flint

A hard, dark variety of chert that knaps into razor-sharp edges and sparks against steel, central to Stone Age technology.

sedimentary
Coyamito Agate

Coyamito Agate

A prized banded agate from Rancho Coyamito in Chihuahua, Mexico, known for eyes, pom-poms and vivid fortification.

gemstone
Coober Pedy Opal

Coober Pedy Opal

Australia's classic light-bodied precious opal from Coober Pedy, famed for milky white stones flashing pastel rainbow play-of-color.

gemstone
Contra-Luz Opal

Contra-Luz Opal

A rare opal whose play-of-color appears only when light passes through it, glowing best when backlit or held to the light.

gemstone
Deschutes Jasper

Deschutes Jasper

A prized Oregon picture jasper from the Deschutes region known for soft scenic landscapes in cream, tan, and blue-gray.

mineral
Chrome Chalcedony

Chrome Chalcedony

A vivid green chalcedony colored by chromium, often called mtorolite, resembling chrysoprase but owing its color to chromium rather than nickel.

gemstone
Chalcedony

Chalcedony

A waxy, translucent microcrystalline form of quartz that serves as the parent group for agate, jasper, carnelian, and onyx.

mineral
Carey Plume Agate

Carey Plume Agate

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

gemstone
Carnelian

Carnelian

A warm orange-to-red variety of chalcedony quartz colored by iron oxide, used since antiquity for seals, beads, and cabochons.

gemstone
Brazilian Agate

Brazilian Agate

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

gemstone
Black Onyx

Black Onyx

A solid jet-black chalcedony, usually a dyed and treated agate, prized for sleek polished beads, cabochons, and intaglios.

gemstone
Bamboo Agate

Bamboo Agate

An agate whose layered, segmented banding resembles the jointed stalks and leaves of bamboo.

gemstone
Bahia Agate

Bahia Agate

A banded and plume agate from the Bahia state of Brazil, known for delicate dendritic and feathery inclusions.

gemstone
Autumn Jasper

Autumn Jasper

A warm-toned jasper named for its autumn-leaf palette of browns, rust, gold, and cream, popular as soothing earth-tone beads.

mineral
Andamooka Opal

Andamooka Opal

Precious opal from the Andamooka field of South Australia, famous for solid crystal opal and its distinctive treatable matrix opal.

gemstone