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.

Siberite

Siberite

A historic name for the red-violet to purplish lithium tourmaline first prized from Siberia, closely tied to the rubellite variety.

gemstone
Ruby

Ruby

The red, chromium-colored variety of corundum, prized as one of the most valuable colored gemstones and second only to diamond in hardness.

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

Pipestone

A soft, fine-grained red metamorphosed claystone, sacred to many Native American peoples and carved into ceremonial pipes.

metamorphic
Cherry Opal

Cherry Opal

A translucent red opal, closely related to Mexican fire opal, glowing with a warm cherry-red body color often free of play-of-color.

gemstone
Andesine

Andesine

An intermediate plagioclase feldspar between albite and anorthite, marketed as a red to champagne gemstone, sometimes color-treated.

gemstone
Vanadinite

Vanadinite

A brilliant orange-red lead vanadate mineral forming hexagonal crystals, prized by collectors and mined as an ore of vanadium.

mineral
Erythrite

Erythrite

A soft pink to crimson hydrated cobalt arsenate, famous as cobalt bloom that signals nearby cobalt ores.

mineral
Rhyolite

Rhyolite

A fine-grained, silica-rich volcanic rock that is the extrusive equivalent of granite, often pale, banded, or flow-textured.

igneous

Riband Agate

A banded chalcedony with straight, ribbon-like parallel layers, often cut across the bands for striking striped cabochons.

gemstone
Zincite

Zincite

A rare zinc oxide best known for its deep red to orange color, classically from Franklin, New Jersey, and as colorful man-made crystals.

mineral
Niccolite

Niccolite

A pale copper-red nickel arsenide, historically called kupfernickel, that is an ore of nickel and gives the metal its name.

mineral
Raspberry Beryl

Raspberry Beryl

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

gemstone
Almandine Garnet

Almandine Garnet

The most common garnet, an iron aluminum silicate in deep red to brownish-red hues, used as a gem and an industrial abrasive.

gemstone
Rubellite

Rubellite

The red to raspberry-pink variety of tourmaline, prized for its vivid ruby-like color that holds under both daylight and artificial light.

gemstone
Pyrargyrite

Pyrargyrite

A silver antimony sulfosalt known as dark ruby silver, an important silver ore with deep red internal reflections.

mineral
Cuprite

Cuprite

Cuprite is a deep red copper oxide and an important secondary copper ore, prized for its rare ruby-red gem crystals.

mineral

Sardonyx

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

gemstone
Plum Tourmaline

Plum Tourmaline

A purplish, plum-toned elbaite tourmaline colored by manganese, blending the red of rubellite with violet-blue undertones.

gemstone
Spinel

Spinel

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

gemstone
Scoria

Scoria

A dark, highly vesicular volcanic rock full of gas bubbles, denser than pumice, common as red or black lava rock.

igneous

Flame Opal

A glowing orange-to-red opal whose warm body color resembles flame; some stones add flashes of play-of-color.

gemstone
Turritella Agate

Turritella Agate

A brown fossiliferous chalcedony packed with spiral freshwater snail shells, technically agatized fossil rock from Wyoming.

sedimentary
Raspberry Tourmaline

Raspberry Tourmaline

A vivid raspberry-pink to pinkish-red elbaite tourmaline, a bright, cheerful member of the rubellite family colored by manganese.

gemstone