Can You Identify This Mineral From a Closeup Photo?

Abhurite is a novel compound that humans developed unintentionally. The mineral emerged from the mining process and the reactivity of old metals at sea. Two hundred and eight incidental minerals exist today.

Abramovite is a novel mineral compound that was mined from the Kudrayavy volcano in Iturup Island, Russia. The mineral is named for Russian mineralogist Dmitry Abramov and is housed at the A.E. Fersman Mineralogical Museum in Russia, one of the world's largest mineral repositories.

Acanthite is a metallic mineral with low hardness and high density. The black mineral compound is usually dull in appearance, but new acanthite is shiny when unexposed. The compound is a polymorph of silver sulfide.

Actinolite is classified as one of several "skarn ores" that exist in limestones. The mineral typically exhibits an asbestos surface texture. Molybdenite and malachite are deposits often found in actinolite skarn.

The Ojuela mine of Mapimi in Mexico contains 117 types of minerals, including dull pink adamite compounds. The mine carves out 280 miles of the limestone landform known as Bufa de Mapimi.

Aegirine is a rock-forming mineral linked to zircon, smoky quartz and microcline. The mineral has been extensively mined at Zomba, Malawi, in East Africa since the 1950s and 1960s. Relatively large crystals have been discovered at the Chinduzi-Chikala mountain range.

Blue afghanite was referred to as a new species in the late 1960s. Metasomatized rocks contain skarns of afghanite that were the result of limestone volcanic activity or igneous formations.

Afwillite has been mined from the Bultfontein kimberlite in South Africa. The mineral is a monoclinic hydrous silicate. It is named for Alpheus Fuller Williams of De Beers Consolidated Mines, Ltd. who first discovered it at the Dutoitspan diamond mine in 1923.

A rare copper mineral micromineral, agardite occurs as the foggy-blue crystalline surface on goethite. It has been discovered at a number of mining areas in New Mexico that are now inactive.

When it was first discovered, babingtonite was passed off and sold as augite minerals. You'll find unrefined sharp, black babingtonite paired with epidote or quartz crystals. Babingtonite has been mined at Gronsjoberg in Sweden.

The refractive index for cabalzarite, a secondary microcrystalline mineral, is roughly 1.7. Of the tsumcorite category, the novel mineral has been found at the Falotta, an abandoned mine in the Swiss Alps.

Danburite takes on a tetrahedral structure that consists of widely distributed silicon and boron. It is one of a few boron gemstones of commercial importance. Danburite has been found in Switzerland, Mexico, Japan and Sri Lanka.

Cacoxenite is one of the last minerals to form in the phosphate pegmatites system. The infrequently occurring phosphate mineral casts a more vivid yellow appearance in iron ores than other more abundant phosphates.

You'll find forms of datolite at Lake Superior, which is the world's biggest reserve of mined copper. Datolite typically encompasses traces of copper. The mineral is a calcium boron silicate hydroxide.

Edingtonite is a microporous, all-silica mineral that has been mined at Ice River, Canada, and Jacupiranga, Brazil. The mineral is constructed from a paulingite packing cavity and a smaller tetragonal scalenohedra cavity.

The black ferberite mineral is classified as the last iron tungstate derivation of the wolframite series. Although it contains metallic crystals, this brittle specimen is magnetically weak.

The thallium-containing sulfosalt galkhaite is a very rare mineral that casts shades of black and red. It is believed that, since galkhaite is typically enclosed in gold-carrying silica, a galkhaite discovery at Nevada's Getchell mine had formed from the deposition of gold.

The rare apple-green gaspeite specimen takes its name from the Gaspe Peninsula where the stone was first found in Quebec, Canada. One of the biggest lodes of the mineral was discovered at a nickel mine in Western Australia.

Sodium-rich gedrite is classified as an orthoamphibole commonly found in metamorphic rocks. The first occurrence of the primary igneous specimen took place at the gabbro in Eriksberg, Sweden.

The Cargill Cleveland Salt Mine near Lake Erie has the most abundant reserves of halite in the United States. Halite is the scientific name for salt. Embedded halites consist of chevron-shaped vertical crystals.

Primarily located off the shores of Greenland and Antarctica, the ikaite mineral is comprised of water and calcium carbonate. Cold waters are the ideal formation environments for this rare specimen.

The condensed and hard jadeite mineral forms in areas called tectonic subduction zones where the pressure is high and the temperature is low. Ancient cultures of the Americas coveted the sturdy mineral.

The Polymineral State Chemical Plant at Lviv Oblast in Stebnyk, Ukraine, has the capacity to extract 1 million tons of kainite every year. The mineral is a naturally-occurring salt necessary for the production of potassium-based fertilizers.

Dark-hued labradorite mineral has microscopic layers that allow for the light interference responsible for the mineral's schiller, or bronzy luster. Supposedly, red labradorite does not contain this layer, yet there exist fine bits of copper throughout the specimen type.

The secondary mineral anglesite is a pale-to-gray nonmetallic brittle specimen. Green, yellow and blue variations also exist, though rarely. Anglesite is classified as a barite mineral.

Colors of the brittle linarite mineral range from dark to light blue. The rare specimen is classified as a basic sulfate composed of lead and copper. Linarite is usually discovered and distributed in small amounts.

Magnesite crystals are formed pseudohexagonally, and shapes vary by hue. White crystals are comprised of small prism structures, and barrel shapes are common in yellow specimens. Magnesite mineral forms can also be colorless.

Of all green minerals, malachite is one of the most common. The specimen occurs in abundance in the Shaba region of Africa's Democratic Republic of Congo. It has been assumed that the mineral's green shades are caused by alternating tennantite and chalcopyrite.

You can find phlogopite in Grenville metamorphosed limestone. The mineral results as tabular or extended crystals. Mogok, Myanmar, and Badakhshan, Afghanistan, are locations where the crystals have been mined.

The tetragonal rutile mineral is not always black; the specimen's name is derived from a Latin word that means "red." There are pale versions of man-made rutile. Naturally-occurring rutile tones include green, deep-browns, yellow shades and darker tones of red and blue.

Dravite occurs copiously in danburite, giving the derived specimen its dark-brown tone. Dravite forms exist in shades ranging from pale brown to reddish-brown, and even black. The mineral may have a high ferrous content.

Tennantite is copper iron arsenic sulfide. The mineral, which ranges from gray to black, is common in sulfosalts and sulfides. Tennantite crystals have reddish translucent extremities.

Black and translucent red shorl, or tourmaline, exist as clumps of fan-shaped acicular crystals. Large schorl crystals are typically black, while very small crystals reflect a reddish-brown hue.

Pyrolusite exists as a lustrous black layer on rocks connected with epidote and chabazite. The mineral appears as black curvy dendritic bands that exhibit obvious traces of manganese.

Artichoke quartz from China is a unique variation whereby quartz subcrystals are stepped to form a mosaic pattern on the rhombohedron and/or prism. Such a phenomenon creates a rounded "artichoke" formation that some mineralogists have termed "Artischockenquarz."