An indispensable guide to 220 essential minerals, from rare rock-formers to precious ores, featuring 500 photographs and artworks. All entries are logically ordered by chemical composition, and include salts, oxides, carbonates, nitrates, sulphates, phosphates, silicates, chromates, metal-formers, a...

An indispensable guide to 220 essential minerals, from rare rock-formers to precious ores, featuring 500 photographs and artworks. All entries are logically ordered by chemical composition, and include salts, oxides, carbonates, nitrates, sulphates, phosphates, silicates, chromates, metal-formers, and much more. Explains how physical properties and optical effects aid identification, such as crystal habit, hardness, colour, lustre, hardiness, cleavage, fracture, tenacity, and fluorescence. Gives practical guidance on extracting, cleaning and categorizing samples, plus advice on recognizing minerals on sight and by conducting simple tests.