Milky quartz (likely quartz fragment)

Typically hardness 7 Mohs, white to translucent, with a vitreous-to-waxy luster and no cleavage; it has a hexagonal crystal structure, though this fragment appears irregular and weathered.

Forms when silica-rich fluids crystallize in veins, cavities, and igneous or metamorphic rocks. Quartz is common from Precambrian through modern geological settings and cannot be age-dated reliably from appearance alone.

Used in glass, ceramics, electronics, engineered stone, abrasives, and construction aggregate; attractive specimens are collected but this piece appears low-grade.

Milky color results mainly from microscopic fluid inclusions, fractures, or defects that scatter light. Quartz is one of Earth’s most abundant and chemically resistant minerals.

Common worldwide, especially in granite, pegmatite, hydrothermal veins, and river gravels. Confirm with a glass-scratch test (quartz scratches ordinary glass), but avoid testing valuable specimens; the image alone cannot exclude calcite or pale chalcedony.