Rock & Mineral Encyclopedia

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

Galena

A heavy, lead-grey metallic mineral with perfect cubic cleavage, galena is the world's main ore of lead and often carries silver.

A heavy lead sulfate secondary mineral, often colorless to white with adamantine luster, formed by the oxidation of galena.

A lead phosphate secondary mineral known for barrel-shaped green to yellow crystals formed in oxidized lead deposits.

A dense lead carbonate mineral forming brilliant colorless to white crystals, an important ore of lead and a favorite of collectors.

A lead molybdate mineral famous for thin, brilliant orange to yellow tabular crystals, prized by collectors and an ore of molybdenum.

A striking lead chromate mineral prized for its brilliant orange-red prismatic crystals, with the finest specimens from Tasmania.

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

Zinc sulfide and the chief ore of zinc, prized when transparent for its extreme fire that exceeds diamond.

A soft lead-gray bismuth sulfide that is an important ore of bismuth, forming metallic needle-like and bladed crystals.

A naturally magnetized variety of magnetite that attracts iron, historically used as the first magnetic compass.

Ilmenite is the world's leading source of titanium, a heavy iron-black oxide common in mafic rocks and black sands.

A silver-white cobalt arsenic sulfide that is a leading ore of cobalt, forming bright metallic cubic and pyritohedral crystals.