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.

Chrysocolla

Chrysocolla

A vivid blue-green hydrated copper silicate, soft on its own but prized as a gem when hardened by intergrown quartz or chalcedony.

mineral
Banded Agate

Banded Agate

The classic agate defined by concentric or parallel bands of chalcedony in varied colors, the archetype of all agate varieties.

gemstone

Carver Agate

A collectible Oregon plume and scenic agate with feathery red and gold inclusions suspended in translucent chalcedony.

gemstone
Flower Agate

Flower Agate

A creamy pink-and-white chalcedony from Madagascar containing flower-like plume inclusions that resemble blossoms suspended in stone.

gemstone
Blood Agate

Blood Agate

A deep red banded agate colored by iron oxides, valued as a vivid red lapidary and jewelry stone.

gemstone
Black Agate

Black Agate

A deep black variety of banded chalcedony, often closely related to or treated like onyx, used for jewelry and carvings.

gemstone

Crowley Ridge Agate

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

gemstone
Unakite

Unakite

An altered granite mottled pink and green from feldspar and epidote, popular as a tough, colorful ornamental rock.

metamorphic

Regency Rose Agate

A prized plume agate with rose-pink and red feathery inclusions suspended in clear chalcedony, from the western U.S.

gemstone

Priday Plume Agate

A classic Oregon plume agate from the Priday Ranch beds, showing feathery mineral plumes suspended in translucent chalcedony.

gemstone

Woodward Ranch Agate

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

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

Lake Huron Agate

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

gemstone
Lake Michigan Agate

Lake Michigan Agate

Glacially deposited banded agates found along Lake Michigan beaches, small waterworn pebbles with concentric red and grey banding.

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
Blue Opal

Blue Opal

A soft blue common opal, famously from Peru, valued for its serene sky-to-teal color rather than play-of-color.

gemstone
Tiger Iron

Tiger Iron

A banded combination rock of golden tiger's eye, red jasper, and metallic hematite, formed in ancient iron deposits.

metamorphic
Pietersite

Pietersite

A brecciated, chatoyant quartz with swirling blue, gold, and brown fibers that shimmer like a stormy sky.

gemstone
Orange Calcite

Orange Calcite

A soft, glowing orange variety of calcite colored by iron oxides, popular as tumbled stones and known for fizzing in acid.

mineral
Orange Garnet

Orange Garnet

A trade term for orange garnets, mainly manganese-rich spessartine and the brownish hessonite variety of grossular.

gemstone
Angelite

Angelite

A soft pale-blue calcium sulfate, the anhydrous form of gypsum, prized as a gentle, calming tumbled stone.

mineral
Septarian Concretion

Septarian Concretion

A rounded sedimentary nodule cracked internally and filled with veins of yellow calcite, prized for its striking dragon-skin patterning.

sedimentary
Green Calcite

Green Calcite

A soft mint-to-apple-green variety of calcite, a common calcium carbonate mineral popular as soothing tumbled stones.

mineral