Dec 23, 2015
Groups of Minerals
• Minerals are grouped by the ele-ments they are made of.
Amethyst
Beryl (Emer-ald) Calcite
Mineral Group Characteristics Examples
Silicates
Contain oxygen & silicaThe most abundant group of minerals
Quartz, mica
MICA Quartz
Mineral Group Characteristics Examples
Non-Silicates
Make up only 5% of the Earth’s crustInclude some of the most important minerals
iron, copper, gold, silver, diamonds, rubies
Silver
GoldRuby Iron
Copper
Diamond
Mineral Group Characteristics Examples
Carbonates Carbon & oxygen and a positive ion, such as calcium
Calcite (CaCO3)
Calcite with Duftite inclu-sions
Mineral Group Characteristics Examples
Sulfates Metallic ion, Sulfur & oxygen
Barite (BaSO4)
Barite on Calcite BaSo4 / CaCO3
BariteBaSo4
Mineral Group Characteristics Examples
Native Elements
Single elements
Gold (Au), Diamond (C), Silver (Ag)
How do minerals form?
• 1) Cooling of magma (hot, liquid rock and minerals inside the earth (from the mantle))– Fast Cooling = No Crystals (mineraloids)–Medium Cooling = small crystals– Slow Cooling = large crystals