What are the 4 types of minerals?

Types of minerals

Native elements. eg. Gold, Silver, Mercury, graphite, diamond.
Oxides. eg corundum (incl. sapphire), hematite, spinel.
Hydroxides. eg. Goethite, brucite.
Sulfides. eg. Pyrite, galena, sphalerite.
Sulfates. eg. Baryte, gypsum.
Carbonates. eg. Calcite, magnesite, dolomite.
Phosphates. eg. Apatite, monazite.
Halides. eg.

What are the 2 main types of minerals?

There are two kinds of minerals: macrominerals and trace minerals. You need larger amounts of macrominerals. They include calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride and sulfur. You only need small amounts of trace minerals.

What are the 7 classes of minerals?

Silicates, oxides, sulfates, sulfides, carbonates, native elements, and halides are all major mineral groups.

Silicates.
Oxides.
Sulfates.
Sulfides.
Carbonates.
Native Elements.
Halides.

What is one of the rarest minerals?

The Rarest Minerals on Earth: The Highlights

Tanzanite. Named after Tanzania, Tanzanite is a stunning blue mineral of the zoisite family.
Larimar.
Alexandrite.
Benitoite.
Painite.
Red Beryl.
Poudretteite.

What is the order of precious stones?

In regards the so-called « precious stones », only four prevail: diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. Sometimes you will can see that a pearl, an opal or a jade are listed as a precious gemstone, but more often they are considered semi-precious.

How can you tell fake spinel?

The proper way to analyze whether Spinel is real is to put it under a UV Radiation Light. Set it to long-wave and look for any stones that are particularly glowy. If the stones are glowy, that means it’s synthetic and not natural.

How can you tell a real gemstone from a fake?

While you might think it would be the other way around, real gemstones are going to have flaws, while synthetic gems will look more perfect. Also, fake gemstones tend to sparkle and shine better than real gemstones, because real natural stones have been worn down through the environment.