Category: Mineralogy

They’re one of the world’s rarest jewels – but nobody knows for certain why pink diamonds are pink. That hasn’t stopped investors from snapping them up at auction and sending … Read More

Looking for gold? Every good explorer knows there’s no silver bullet in finding an ore deposit, but a University of South Australia researcher is hoping to change all that. Dr. … Read More

What’s in a Mineral Name? Before 1960 mineralogists would introduce new mineral names in In 1960, to reduce this chaos the International Mineralogical Society established. In 1960, to reduce this … Read More

One of the most useful diagnostic properties is hardness, a measure of the resistance of a mineral to abrasion or scratching. This property is determined by rubbing a mineral of … Read More

A few minerals, such as native gold, silver, and copper, are made entirely of metal atoms packed tightly together in an orderly way. The bonding that holds these atoms together … Read More

What Is Gold Mining? Gold mining is the mining resource that extracts gold. How Is Gold Mined? Gold is mined using four different methods. Placer mining, hard rock mining, byproduct … Read More

Recall that ice freezes at a specific temperature, whereas basaltic magma crystallizes over a range of at least 200°C of cooling (about 1200° to 1000°C). In a laboratory setting, Bowen … Read More

Cave of the Crystals or Giant Crystal Cave is a cave connected to the Naica Mine 300 metres (980 ft) below the surface in Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico. One of the … Read More

Amethyst is a purple quartz type (SiO2) and owes its violet color to irradiation, iron impurities and, in some cases, other transition metals, and the presence of other trace elements … Read More