Crystals

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	Brief Description of Crystals AGATE: form of chalcedony with swirls, bands and patterns of inclusion, occurs in large variety of colors AMAZONITE: light blue to blue-green gem Feldspar AMETHYST: transparent deep purple to lilac color variety of gem Quartz, semi-precious birthstone of *February* APATITE: yellow, green and sometimes gem quality blue mineral frequently forming with Aquamarine, used in fertilizers AQUAMARINE: Light blue to blue-green transparent gem belonging to the BERYL family of minerals. A precious stone which is the birthstone of *March.* AVENTURINE: Light to dark green translucent variety of Quartz, may sometime contain MICA inclusions which causes it to "glitter". BERYL: family of minerals which includes AQUAMARINE and EMERALD and comes in other colors, such as MORGANITE ( pink), HELIDOR( yellow),GOSHENITE (clear) the extremely rare BIXBITE (red) BORNITE: peacock copper. This mineral shows a rainbow of metallic colors, thus the name. This is a very important source of copper. CHACEDONY: transparent to translucent silica QUARTZ which comes in variety of colors, no visible crystal form. CITRINE: yellow variety of QUARTZ, ranges in color from light yellow to dark "beer" color. Alternate stone for November. CORUNDUM: family of minerals which include RUBY ( red) and SAPPHIRE. Forms in pencil shaped crystals usually slightly tapered and falt on both ends. Corundum is used as an abrasive because of its hardness. EMERALD: highly valued gem in the BERYL familyprized for its beautiful grass-green color. Birthstone May. FELDSPAR: common rock/mineral mined and processed in large volumes. Used as glaze on china and as mild household cleanser/abrasive ( Bon-Ami, Comet), can occur in gem form. FLUORITE: calcium and fluprite minerals occur in cubic-crystal forms in large variety of transparent and translucent colors including purple, blue, green and yellow. Used to manufacture steel and making hydrofluoric acid. GALENA: important LEAD ore, forms gray metallic cube shapes, a soft and heavy mineral used in a variety of radio sets. GARNET: this mineral forms round crystals in a variety of colors. The red gem variety is the birthstone of January, also used as industrial abrasive. JASPER: red, orange yelow and brown variety of chalcedony, can come with unique designs or stripes. KYANITE: a blue to green-blue mineral in blade-shaped form crystlas, used in the ceramics of spark plugs. MICA: Mineral in thin-paper-like sheets stacked in "book"like crystals. It is Nature's finest insulator and has a very high melting point, for this reason, it is widely used in a multitude of industrial applications. MOONSTONE: white to grey gem FELDSPAR with a sheen or "catseye" alternate birthstone for July OBSIDIAN: APACHE TEAR a black to very dark form of volcanic to glass most commonly found in roughly polished marbles. White splotches sometime appear, known as SNOWFLAKE obsidian. North American Indians use this to make spears and arrowheads. OLIVINE: a grainy olive-green mineral used in steel making and heat retention. PERIDOT: olive-green variety of OLIVINE, birthstone of August PETRIFIED WOOD: this process takes millions of years in which SILICA or AGATE replaces the wood fiber, occurs in normal wood tones and in dark red-browns and yellows. PYRITE: FOOL'S GOLD an iron-ore with sulfur, nickel and cobalt. Has a metallic brassy yellow color usually in cube shapes, used as source of sulfuric acid and sometimes iron. QUARTZ: one of the most abundant and common minerals in the earth's crust As the chemical silica, it forms an important part of most igneous rocks. Some sandstones are 100% , so are metamorphic rocks as quartzites. Mostly colorless, commonly white, sometimes yellow, blue, brown, pink, orange, or black. Non-gem quartz has been used in making glass thousands of years ago and in modern day computer chips ROSE QUARTZ: pink variety of gem QUARTZ which can sometimes display a prized star or catseye effect. RUTILATED OR TOURMALATED QUARTZ sometimes. quartz forms with gold hair-like needles of Rutile or black needles of Tourmaline inside creating a very unique looking gemstone. SAPPHIRE: the color blue is mostly associated with this gem, but SAPPHIRE is also a corundum. It forms a variety of colors ( RED SAPPHIRE IS KNOWN AS RUBY) . Blue sapphire is known for its star effect.. birthstone for *September* SMOKEY QUARTZ: real smokey quartz comes in light to dark brown variety of QUARTZ, almost drak gray or black TIGER EYE: variety of QUARTZ with asbestos inclusions which give the stone the catseye effect, comes in brown, red, blue and green TOPAZ: a transparent gem that comes in a variety of colors, most common are clear, yellow, peach and the popular blue.The blue topaz is *December birthstone,* the yellow variety is November stone. TOURMALINE: the only gem that comes in almost every color. Most common is green, it can form multi-color crystals called WATERMELON TOURMALINE. Black tourmaline is the most common form. Note: The mineral kingdom covers a very broad area ;this presentation touches only on some of the most common gems and minerals.There are many more. I will try to add to the list as time permits Thank you. E N D Dream Stones Article Archive


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