Native Elements
"Native
elements are pure chemical elements."
They occur by themselves instead of in combinations of many chemical elements, which is the case with minerals. Iron and nickel are exceptions, which tend to be found in alloys with each other.
Gold
Gold is the most precious and valuable of all native elements. It is a very stable element, and unlike silver, copper and others doesn't tarnish or react with other elements. It is sometimes found in cubic crystals, but most often as nuggets in massive habit. It often forms in hydrothermal veins and is thus associated with quartz and sulphide minerals.
Silver
Silver is the second most valuable native element. It is soft, and can form cubic crystals but is most often found in massive or wire habit. Like gold, it often forms in hydrothermal veins and it can be associated with gold or even form in alloy with gold. Both silver and gold are mostly used in jewelry (and historically, money).
Copper
Copper is also a very sought-after native element, being a very useful metal in many industries. It is easy to identify just by its copper-red or pink colour when fresh, but tarnishes to brown when exposed to the atmosphere. It can form cubic crystals but is most often massive or dendritic.
Iron
Iron is obviously a very valuable ore, but there is very little iron on the Earth's surface. The Earth's core on the other hand seems to be very rich in iron. It does exceptionally surface or end up in rocks, but this is very rare. The most of the times we get to see iron is in meteorites, which land on the Earth's surface. This is why it is believed that there is a fair bit of iron in the space.
Nickel
Nickel is another element that is rarely found on its own on the Earth's surface. More often it can be found in alloys with iron. Like iron, it is found in the Earth's core and in meteorites. It can occasionally form in mafic and ultramafic rocks such as basalts. Both iron and nickel-iron are strongly magnetic.
Platinum
Platinum is a silver-like element, which is most often found in grains or flakes, and more seldom in cubic crystals or nuggets. It does not tarnish when in contact with the air, and it is known for its high specific gravity. It often contains iron and other metals, and can be associated with the iron oxide hematite. It is mainly found in mafic and ultramafic igenous rocks and hydrothermal veins.
Sulphur
While all the above elements are metallic, sulphur, graphite and diamond are not. Sulphur is a bright yellow or yellowish brown element that forms in hot springs and volcanic craters and can occur in many different habits from crystals to massive, reniform and stalactitic. It is a very abundant element not only on the Earth but in the whole universe.
Graphite
Graphite is a very soft mineral that consists entirely of the element carbon. It is often found in greasy-feeling metamorphic rocks such as schists and slates. It leaves a black mark (streak) - the reason why it is used as pencil "lead". It can be found in crystals, or massive, compact, granular or earthy habits.
Diamond
While graphite is very soft, diamond is a very hard mineral with exactly the same chemical composition. It is the hardest mineral on the Earth - the reason why its popular use is in diamond rings and other jewelry, but also in drill rigs and heavy machinery. It can be colourless or of almost any colour. It is found in one kind of ultramafic rocks - kimberlites.
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