admin

Nearly every mineral in a typical collection can be found, at least in small amounts, at multiple sites around the

Sodalite and lapis lazuli get mixed up constantly, both deep blue, both sold as tumbled stones and carvings side by

Rhodochrosite’s banding reads almost like a target, concentric rings of pink and white or pink and cream, tight enough in

Staurolite has a habit that looks almost too tidy to be natural: two crystals crossing each other at a clean

Most minerals have one Mohs hardness number. Kyanite has two, genuinely different depending on which direction you scratch it, a

Diamond is the hardest known natural material. Graphite, the stuff of pencil lead, is soft enough to flake apart under

Most minerals nicknamed after a property they merely resemble don’t actually have that property. Magnetite is the exception. It’s genuinely,

Galena is one of the few common minerals whose crystal habit gives away its internal structure almost without a magnifying

Sulfur is unusual among specimens on a shelf for a specific reason: it’s not a compound of two or more

Selenite bends. Cut a thin sheet of it and you can flex it slightly between your fingers without snapping it,