Rock & Mineral Encyclopedia

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

Limonite

Limonite is an amorphous brown iron oxide ore, the rust-colored material behind ochre pigments and bog iron.

The pure colorless variety of beryl, valued as crystal specimens and as a brilliant alternative to clearer gemstones.

A rare brown chalcedony containing thin iron-oxide layers that produce flashing, fiery rainbow iridescence like trapped flames.

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

A soft, porous iron ore of limonite and goethite that forms in wetlands and bogs, historically the first iron source for many cultures.

The colorless variety of beryl, named after Goshen, Massachusetts, prized for its purity, clarity, and durability.

Goethite is a common brown iron oxyhydroxide, the main crystalline component of limonite and rust, with shimmering botryoidal forms.