​​Techniques for Identifying Minerals

Mineral identification can seem like magic when you're in the company of experts: somehow they just seem to know what name to give it! Certainly, with long experience, the process of identification can become intuitive - but getting that level of experience takes a lot of ewffort and time., And intuition, it needs to be said, isn't always right. (The same can also be said about those apps that offer to do the task for you, and anyway apps take both the fun and the learning out of identifying minerals.)     

For those of us with less experience, a more methodical approach is therefore rewarding. This involves working out what the mineral is by examining it carefully, noting the features it displays and then comparing the information you gather with descriptions and images of minerals that you can find in books or on-line (including in the minerals gallery of this website). 

Six key features and associated techniques are outlined here:  

• Colour
• Lustre
• Transparency (aka diaphaneity) 
• Streak
• Hardness
• Specific gravity (aka density)
• Crystal habit

These aren't the only features that you need to examine in order to make a firm identification. Others, such as the cleavage,  and crystal class are also highly informative  - and with the aid of a microscope there are yet more tests you can do to help identify minerals. But with many minerals, these seven are a good starting point.  

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