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Mineral Classification
On this page you have
information on mineral classification.
It is based on the chemical composition of minerals.
More exactly, the minerals with same or similar anions are grouped together.
More exactly, the minerals with same or similar anions are grouped together.
Silicate
Minerals
Silicates
is by far
the largest
group of minerals on the Earth - it
includes more than 500 minerals. These are silicon oxygen minerals,
which include quartz
(the most common mineral on the Earth), feldspars
(plagioclase, K-feldspar), serpentine, mica and clay minerals,
amphiboles, pyroxenes, tourmaline, epidote, garnet, olivine, zircon,
aluminium silicates and others.
Muscovite - a silicate mineral. ©collecting-rocks-and-minerals.com
Borate
Minerals
Borates
is a
smaller group within mineral classification system which
amongst others contains borax (sodium
borate) and colemanite (calcium borate).Phosphate
Minerals
Phosphates
are
minerals that have PO4 as aniones. They tend
to be
colourful minerals. The group includes apatite, monazite, arsenite,
xenotime, turquoise, vanadite and others.
Gypsum - a sulfate mineral. ©collecting-rocks-and-minerals.com
Sulfate
Minerals
Sulfates
are the
minerals that have SO4 as anion. They
include gypsum,
anhydrite, barite, langbeinite, kieserite, svanbergite and
others.Carbonate
Minerals
Carbonates
have CO3 as anion. They are easy to identify
because
they react to hydrochloric acid. The most common carbonate is calcite,
but others include magnesite, siderite, rhodocrosite, dolomite,
ankerite, aragonite, whiterite, strontianite, azurite and malachite to
name a few.
Calcite - a carbonate mineral. ©collecting-rocks-and-minerals.com
Halide
Minerals
Halides
are a relatively small group of minerals, which have one of the
halogens (column VIIA in the periodic table: fluorine, chlorine,
bromine, iodine and astatine) as anions. The group includes halite
(rock salt), fluorite, sylvite, atacamite, cryolite, calomel,
chlorargyrite and others.Oxide
Minerals
Oxides
are
minerals that have oxygen (O) as anion. They include
magnetite, hematite, spinel, chromite, chrysoberyl, cuprite, corundum,
ilmenite, rutile, uranitite and others.
Magnetite - an oxide mineral. ©collecting-rocks-and-minerals.com
Hydroxides
Hydroxides
have OH as
anions. They make a relatively small group,
which includes three groups of minerals: limonites (goethite,
lepidocrocite), bauxites (gibbsite, diaspore) and WAD (manganese oxide
and some hydroxide minerals of not-so-certain identity). Sulfides
Even though oxides
also contain some ore minerals, sulfides
is the
group dominated by them. Sulfides have S as anion, and the group
includes sphalerite, galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite,
pyrrhotite, cinnabar, marcasite, molybdenite, bornite, chalcosite,
covellite and others.
Mineral classification - bornite - a sulfide. ©collecting-rocks-and-minerals.com
Native
Elements
And finally,
the native
elements,
which are of course ore (sulfides and other ore
minerals are mined because they contain some of the native elements).
Native elements include gold, silver, copper, nickel, zinc, lead,
sulfur, diamond, mercury, iron, platinum, arsenic, bismuth, antimony
and others.
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