Crystal Habit is the external shape displayed by a crystal or an aggregate of crystals.

Fluorescent Minerals glow with spectacular colors under ultraviolet light.

Rock, Mineral and Fossil Collections. Nice kits for personal or classroom use.

Quartz is the most abundant mineral in the crust. It has many useful properties.

Topaz is a mineral best known as a durable gemstone and its use in Mohs Hardness Scale.

Geodes look like ordinary rocks on the outside but can be spectacular inside!

Mineral Identification Chart Printable mineral ID chart by Art Crossman in MS Excel format.

Calcite is a carbonate mineral with industrial, agricultural, medical and many other uses.

Diamonds Do Not Form From Coal That is one of the biggest misconceptions in science.

Abandoned Mine Accidents kill several people every year. Education can prevent deaths.

Mineral collectors must know the rules for removing specimens from public and private property.

Corundum is the third hardest mineral. It is also the mineral of ruby and sapphire.

Minerals are the building blocks of our society. We use items made with them every day.

Mohs Hardness Scale is a set of reference minerals used for classroom hardness testing.

Diopside - Gem material, ornamental stone, diamond indicator, industrial mineral.

Herkimer Diamonds Doubly-terminated quartz crystals used as specimens and gems.

Benitoite - discovery of the State Gem of California - USGS report from 1911.

Mineraloids are amorphous naturally-occurring inorganic solids that lack crystallinity.

Diamond is a mineral with unique properties and many gem and industrial uses!

Tucson Gem & Mineral Show Photos from the largest gem and mineral show.

Ilmenite - The primary ore of titanium and source of most titanium dioxide.

United States Gemstones Small mines in the U.S. produce a diversity of gemstones.

Are Water and Ice Minerals? Comparing their properties with the definition of a mineral.

Olivine - Abundant in Earth*s mantle. A constituent of meteorites. The gem peridot.

Rhodochrosite : a manganese mineral used as an ore, a pink gem and an ornamental stone.

Tourmaline - the most colorful mineral and natural gem material on Earth.

Rare Earth Elements are used in cell phones, DVDs, batteries, magnets & many other products.

Gold has unique properties that make it one of the most useful minerals.

Chalcopyrite - The most important ore of copper for over five thousand years.

Garnet is best known as a red gemstone. It occurs in any color and has many industrial uses.

Variscite is a yellowish green to bluish green mineral. It is similar to turquoise and cut as a gem.

Cinnabar - the only important ore of mercury. Used in pigments until its toxicity was realized.

The Streak Test is a method to determine the color of a mineral in powdered form.

The Acid Test Geologists use dilute hydrochloric acid to identify carbonate minerals.

Hematite - the most important source of iron ore and mineral pigment since prehistory.

Tumbled Stones are rocks that have been rounded, smoothed and polished in a rock tumbler.

Mineral Rights - Who owns the minerals under your land? Who wants to buy them?

Spodumene is a pegmatite mineral, an ore of lithium and sometimes a gemstone.

Zircon is the primary ore of zirconium and a gemstone that is available in many colors.

Kyanite is a metamorphic mineral used to make porcelain, abrasive products and gems.

Rhodonite - a manganese silicate used as a minor ore of manganese and as a gemstone.

Serpentine - metamorphic rocks used in construction, architecture and lapidary work.

Uses of Silver Most people think of jewelry and coins, but silver\'s primary use is industrial.

Azurite - Used as an ore of copper, a pigment, ornamental stone and gem material.

Geology Tools - Hammers, field bags, hand lenses, maps, hardness picks, gold pans.

Rock Tumblers - All about rock tumblers and rock tumbling. Read before you buy a tumbler.

Gold Pans and Panning Kits - classifiers, snuffer bottles. Learn how to pan for gold!

Talc is a soft mineral used in cosmetics, paper, paint, ceramics and many other products.

Hardness Picks - Mohs hardness testing with precise and easy-to-use hardness picks.

The Science of Fireworks Learn how the colors and shapes are created.

Minerals in Colored Glass - Minerals are what produce the color in colored glass.

Olivine Rain Spitzer Telescope discovered a rain of olivine crystals on protostar HOPS-68.

Denver Gem and Mineral Show - Photos and comments about this incredible show.

How Do Snowflakes Form? They start as tiny crystals. Some grow on the way down.

Triboluminescence is flash produced when a mineral is rubbed, scratched or broken.

Limonite - an amorphous iron oxide. An ore of iron and a pigment since prehistory.

Hand Lens A 10-power folding magnifier in a metal case. A frequently used lab and field tool.