Mineralogy

A mineral, as already defined, is a naturally occurring inorganic solid substance that is

characterized with a definite chemical composition and very often with a definite atomic
structure.
In nature more than three thousand minerals are known to occur and most of them have already
been thoroughly studied. The minerals generally occur in the form of natural aggregates, called
rocks, which make the crust of our Earth. As such study of minerals - the building units of rocks,
is of fundamental importance in studying the essential aspects of geology.
Mineralogy is that branch of geology which deals with various aspects related to minerals such
as their individual properties, their mode of formation and mode of occurrence.
A working knowledge about various aspects of minerals is important to a varying degree for a
Civil Engineer, a mining engineer, a metallurgist and even a town planner because all of them
may have to deal with minerals, in one way or another, during their professional career.
Properties of minerals
More than three thousand minerals are known to occur in the crust of the Earth. Some of them
are very common, for instance quartz, feldspars, calcite etc; others are less common in general
but may form huge deposits locally, for instance, ores of iron, aluminium, copper and zinc; still
others are very rare, such as diamond, sapphire and dumortierite. But all of these three thousand
minerals have been studied and given names. This has been possible because each mineral is
generally characterized with a set of properties, some of which are always distinctive related to
the body of a mineml, e.g. its colour, shine, shape and hardness etc.; these are aptly termed as
Physical Properties.
Some other properties like behaviour towards light require extremely thin sections of minerals
through which light can pass and are best studied with the help of a microscope. These are
termed as Optical Properties.
A third group of properties involving chemical analysis of the minerals to know their
constituents, qualitatively and quantitatively, fall under the heading of Chemical Properties.
In an exhaustive study of minerals, we may also find out their behavior towards magnetic
forces, electricity, X-rays and other radiations
Physical Properties:
Form
It is the internal atomic arrangement of a mineral which is manifested outwardly by development
of geometrical shapes or crystal characters. One of the following three terms may describe the
form of a mineral.
(i) Crystallized. When the mineral occurs in the form of well-defined crystals as represented
by crystal faces and angles or when it shows perfect cleavage, which is also indicative of
perfect atomic arrangement.
(ii) Crystalline. When well-defined crystals sent the mineral shows a clear tendency towards
crystallization as evidenced by .opment of small grains each of which is virtually an incipient
crystals.
(iii) Amorphous. Neither a crystal face nor a cleavage is seen. There is no evidence of orderly

arrangement of atoms
Structure (Form)
Minerals often occur in characteristic body forms or physical shapes. The physical make up of a
mineral is expressed by the term structure and is often helpful in identifying a particular mineral.
In reality, structure merely shows the habbit in which the crystal or crystalline substance making
a mineral tends to occur in nature. Following are a few common structural forms (habits)
observed in minerals.
(i) Tabular. The mineral occurs in the form of a flattened, square, rectangular or rhombohedral
shape. In other words, flattening is conspicuous compared to lengthwise elongation. (Fig. ).
Examples : Calcite, orthoclase, barite etc.

(ii) Elongated. When the mineral is in the form of a thin or thick elongated. Column-like crystal.
Examples : Beryl, quartz, hornblende. It is also commonly referred as a columnar structure.

(iii) Bladed. The mineral appears as if composed of thin, flat, blade-like overlapping or
juxtraposed parts. Example : Kyanite (Fig.)

(iv) Lamellar. The mineral is made up of relatively thick, flexibl~, leaf-like sheets. (Fig.).
Example : Vermiculite.

(v) Foliated. The structure is similar to lamellar in broader sense but in this case the individual
sheets are paper thin, even thinner and can be easily separated. Example : Muscovite (mica).

(vi) Fibrous. When the mineral is composed of fibres, generally separable, either quite easily
(example : asbestos) or with some difficulty (example : gypsum) (Fig.).

(vii) Radiating. The mineral is made up of needle like or fibrous crystals which appear
originating from a common point thereby giving a radiating appearance. Example : Iron pyrites
(Fig.).
When needles are pointed and not necessarily radiating, the structure is called acicular.

(viii) Granular. The mineral occurs in the form of densely packed mass of small grain-like
crystals. Example : Chromite (Fig.).

(ix) 1Giobular or botroiydal, when the mineral surface is in the form of rounded, bulb-like
overlapping globules or projections. Example : Hematite (Fig. 9.8).
(x) Reniform. It is similar to globular but the shape of the bulbs or projections resembles to

human kidneys. (Fig. 9.9) Example : Hematite. (Fig).

(xi) Mammillary. It is similar to globular but the projections are conspicuous in size, overlapping
in arrangement and rounded in shape. Example : Malachite. (Fig.).

Colour
The colour of any object is a light dependent property: it is the appearance of the particular
object in light (darkness destroys colour). A particular colour is produced by reflection of some
and absorption of other components of white light. A mineral shows colour of that wavelength of
the white light which is not absorbed by it by virtue of its composition and atomic structure.
In nature, minerals of all perceivable colours are known to occur. Quite a few common minerals
generally occur in characteristics colours so that they can be easily identified from their colours.
On the basis of colour, a mineral may belong to any one of the three types :
(i) Idiochromatic having a characteristic, fairly constant colour related primarily to the
composition of mineral. Metallic minerals (e.g. of copper group) belong to this category.
(ii) Allochromatic having a variable colour; the variety in colour is generally due to minute
quantities of colouring impurities thoroughly dispersed in the mineral composition. Many nonmetallic minerals like quartz, calcite, fluorite and tourmaline etc. may occur in more than two
colours depending on the nature of impurities.
(iii) Pseudochromatic showing a false colour. Such an effect generally happens when a mineral is
rotated in hand; it is then seen to show a set of colours in succession. This change or play of
colours is attributed to simultaneous reflection and refraction from the mineral surface due to
minute inclusions of impurities in the mineral at different locations. Some of the peculiar
phenomena connected with colour in minerals are briefly explained below.
Play of Colours. It is the development of a series of prismatic colours shown by some
minerals on turning about in light. The colours change in rapid succession on rotation and
their effect is quite brilliant and appealing to the eye.
Change of Colours. It is similar to play of colours except that the rate of change of colours
on rotation and their intensity is rather low. Each colour continues over a larger space in
Iridescence. Some minerals show rainbow colours (similar to those appearing in drops of oil
spilled over water) either in their interior or on the exterior surface. This is called iridescence It is
also related to reflections from inclusions. Example : Limonite and hematite.

 Tarnish. This may be described as a phenomenon of change of original colours of a mineral to

some secondary colours at its surface due to its oxidation at the surface. Some minerals arnish
very quickly so that their exterior colour is quite different from the interior colour. Example :
Bornite arid Chalcopyrite.
Although colour is never taken as a diagnostic or conclusive property in the final identification
of minerals, it is invariably studied first of all and is generally very helpful. In fact, some
minerals have typical colours associated with them such as : Lazurite (deep blue), Pyrite (brass
yellow), Cinnabar (carmine red), magnetite (black) and so on. Quite a few minerals may be
colourless and transparent when absolutely pure, e.g. quartz, calcite, diamond and gypsum .
Streak:
It is an important and diagnostic property of many coloured minerals. Simply defined, streak is
the colour of the finely powdered mineral as obtained by scratching or rubbing the mineral over a
rough unglazed porcelain plate. The plate is often named as a streak plate in a geology
laboratory.
Colourless and transparent minerals will always give a colourless streak that has no significance.
The coloured and opaque minerals, especially of ore groups, give typically characteristic streaks
closely in their other physical properties : both are almost black. These may be at once
distinguished by their streaks : brown for chromite and black for magnetite.
It follows that the colour of a mineral may or may not be the same as its streak. For
identification, streak is relied upon more than the colour of the mineral
Lusture
Simply defined, it is the shine of a mineral. Technically speaking, it is intensity of reflection
of light from the mineral surface and depends at least on three factors
(i) The refractive index of the mineral.
(ii) The absorption (of light) capacity of the mineral.
(iii) The nature of reflecting surface.
The same mineral may show a poor lu.;ture on rough surface and brilliant lusture on a cleavage
face.
Broadly speaking, lusture may be classified into metallic and non-metallic types. Metallic lusters
are characteristic of high density, high refractive index and opaque minerals like galena, pyrite
and chalcopyrite.
In the non-metamc luster the reflection may vary from very brilliant shine as that of diamonds to
very feeble greasy luster of olivine and nepheline. While studying lustre of the minerals, one
may make use of following qualitative terms :
(i) Metallic : shine resembles to known metals; example : galena
(ii) Adamantine : luster of diamonds; very brilliant; example diamond
(iii) Vitreous : shine typical of glass, ice etc; example : quartz
(iv) Pearly : resembling shine of pearls; example : labradorite
(v) Silky : like the shine of pure silk; example : gypsum

(vi) Resinous : shine is oily, waxy or greasy; example : nepheline.

(vii) Dull or earthy, where shine is almost absent because no light is reflected due to highly
porous nature of the mineral; example : chalk, clay, bauxite.
It may be mentioned that lustre is entirely independent of colour of the mineral. A deeply
coloured mineral may be lusterless and vice versa.
Hardness
It is a fairly constant and diagnostic property of minerals. Hardness may be defined as the
resistance, which a mineral otTers to an external deformation action such as scratching,
abrasion, rubbing or indentation. Hardness of a mineral depends on its chemical composition
and atomic constitution. Broadly speaking hardness of minerals as determined conventionally is
a qualitative property determined in relative terms. It was in 1822 that Austrian mineralogist
F. Mohs proposed a relative, broadly quantitative "scale of hardness" of minerals assigning
values between 1 and I 0. Since then, the Mohs' Scale of Hardness for Minerals has been
universally adopted. All minerals, when pure. have been found to have a fairly constant
hardness value on this scale and hence the importance of hardness as a diagnostic property.
The Mohs' scale of hardness comprises ten minerals arranged in order of ascending hardness;
the softest is assigned a value of 1 and the hardest a value of 10. (Table)
In practice, hardness of any mineral can be determined with the help of minerals from the above
scale. The harder mineral will scratch the softer mineral. By starting with mineral of lowest
hardness from the scale, hardness of unknown mineral can be easily fixed. For instance, an
unknown mineral is not scratched by fluorite (H = 4) but is scratched by apatite (H = 5). Hence
its hardness lies between 5 and 4, and may be fixed at 4.5. It must also be remembered that
minerals of equal hardness scratch each other (diamond cuts diamond).

Some common materials have been assigned hardness values according to Mohs scale and may
prove useful in determination of hardness of an unknown mineral quickly. These are Brass (H =
3.5), Glass (H = 5.5).Steel (H = 6.5). Hardness of a human finger nail varies between 1.5 to 2.5.
Three facts need careful consideration in determining hardness of a mineral on Mohs scale.
First. Hardness is only a relative property. If Talc has H = I and Quartz H = 7, it does not
indicate quartz is seven times harder than talc
Cleavage
It is defined as the tendency of a crystallized mineral to break along certain definite directions
yielding more or less smooth, plane surfaces. In other words, Cleavage planes are the planes of
easiest fractures, and are essentially indicative of directions of least cohesion in the atomic
constitution of a mineral.
A mineral may have cleavage in one, two or three directions. Further, the degree of ease in
splitting along cleavage directions may vary in the same mineraL As such cleavage is described
both in terms of number of directions in which it is observed on a mineral and also in terms of
degree of perfect splitting.
Since cleavage directions are always parallel to certain crystal faces in a mineral, these may be
described as such. For instance, cubic cleavage (galena and haylite), rhombohedral cleavage
(calcite) and prismatic cleavage, basal cleavage and octahedral cleavage.
In terms of perfection, the cleavage is described as : eminent, perfect, good, distinct and
indistinct in that order. In eminent cleavage, the mineral can be spilt very easily yielding
extremely smooth surfaces e.g. in mica. Perfect cleavages are seen in orthoclase and calcite.
Fracture
The appearance of the broken surface of a mineral in a direction other than that of cleavage
is generally expressed by the term fracture. In some cases fracture becomes a characteristic
property of a mineral
Common types of fractures are :
(i) Even. When the broken surface is smooth and flat. Example : chert.
(ii) Uneven. When the mineral breaks with an irregular surface which is full of minute ridges
and depressions. It is a common fracture of many minerals. Example : Fluorite.
(iii) Conchoidal. The broken surface of the mineral shows broadly concentric rings or
concavities which may be deep or faint in outline. In the latter case, the fracture may be
termed as subconchoidaL Example : Quartz.
(iv) Splintry. When the mineral breaks with a rough woody fracture resulting in rough projection
at the surface. Example : kyanite.
(v) Hackly. The broken surface is highly irregular with numerous sharp, fine, pinching
projections. Example : Native Copper.

Tenacity
The behaviour of a mineral towards the forces that tend to break, bend, cut or crush it is
described by the term tenacity. Thus, when a mineral can be cut with a knife, it is described as
sectile. If the slices cut out of it can be flattened under a hammer, it is said to be malleable. Most

minerals exhibit the property of brittleness, by virtue of which they change into fine grains or
powder when scratched with a knife or when brought under the hammer.
A mineral is said to be flexible when it can be bent, especially in thin sheets. Chlorites are
flexible. Some minerals are not only flexible but elastic, that is, they regain their shape when the
force applied on them is removed. Micas are best example. The flexible and elastic fibers of
asbestos can be woven into fire-proof fabric.
As such, in terms of tenacity mineral may be sectile. brittle, flexible, plastic and elastic. The last
two qualities being of diagnostic importance.

Specific Gravity:
The density of a substance is a fundamental property of great significance and is defined as mass
per unit volume of the substance. For minerals, it is expressed in g/cc.
In mineralogy, the term specific gravity is used more frequently than density and signifies "the
ratio between the density of a mineral and that of water at 4 Celsius". Since it is a ratio, it has no
units. Specific gravity of quartz is, for instance, 2.65. The specific gravity is also termed relative
density. Density (hence specific gravity) of minerals depends primarily on :
(i) Composition. The non-metallic minerals have low values, ranging between 2.5 to 4.5 glcc,
whereas metallic minerals and ores have densities as high 20 glcc.
(ii) Atomic constitution. Minerals with atoms of greater atomic radii show less density va!ues
compared with those made of atoms of smaller atomic radii.
Since temperature and pressure are both known to change volume of a substance, it follows that
density will also show a change when a mineral is subjected to elevated temperature or high
pressures.
Specific gravity of some common minerals is : quartz (2.65); calaite (2.6), Fluorite (3.18),
hematite (5.2), chalcopyrite (4.2), galena (7.5) and native gold (19.3).
Miscellaneous
Besides the above properties, minerals may show some specific and rare qualities that often
become helpful in their identification. Some of these special properties are explained below :
(i) Magnetism, Some minerals have natural nragnetism in them to an appreciable extent.
Example : magnetite. A few other minerals may be only feebly magnetic. Example : spinels,
tourmaline.
(ii) Electricity. In some minerals an electric charge may be developed by heating. These are
called pyroelectric minerals. Examples : tourmaline. boracite. ouartz. In some other minerals.In
some other mineral, the same effect of developing a charge may be produced by applying
pressure. This group is termed as piezo-electric. Examoles : tourmaline and quartz.
(iii) Fluorescence. A few minerals have the jJroperty of glowing or emitting light when they are
exposed to radiation. This property is called Dl!Qrescence and mineral fluorite shows it.
(iv) Phosphorescence. It is similar to fluorescence in essential character but in this case light

is emitted by mineral not during the act of exposure to radiation hut after the substance is
transferred rapidly to a dark place. Fluorite, quartz, willemite ctnd diamond show
phosphorescence under different conditions.
(v) Fusibility. Minerals behave differently on heating to elevated temperature. Some fuse (melt)
easily at lower temperatures whereas others require very high temperatures.
A scale of fusibility has been suggested by Von Kobell. It consists of six minerals arranged
according to temperature of fusion : stibnite (525 C), Natrolite (965 C), Alamandine (1200C)
Actinolite (I ,296 C), Orthoclase (l ,300 C), and Bronzite (1 ,380 C).