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Twenty basic minerals
  
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Tom Mazanec




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PostPosted: May 28, 2017 07:35    Post subject: Twenty basic minerals  

There are thousands of described minerals. I am sure nobody is familiar with all of them. But a few (say a score) I would imagine to be ones every mineral enthusiast would be expected to know.
Which are these top twenty?
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Peter Lemkin




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PostPosted: May 28, 2017 07:50    Post subject: Re: Twenty basic minerals  

Tom Mazanec wrote:
There are thousands of described minerals. I am sure nobody is familiar with all of them. But a few (say a score) I would imagine to be ones every mineral enthusiast would be expected to know.
Which are these top twenty?


I would suggest that a 'mineral enthusiast' should know the top one hundred or two hundred - and a few more hundred to REALLY be in the 'know'. Beyond about 500-600 they are specialty/rare minerals or variants of the others. Knowing the various habits and some classic locations for each of them is also important. It all depends on how 'enthusiastic' you want to be or become.
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Bob Harman




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PostPosted: May 28, 2017 07:56    Post subject: Re: Twenty basic minerals  

Your question is not so straightforward or easily answered; it is subjective as a mineral like calcite is very common, but less daily uses (other than the CaCO3 rock, limestone) than elemental minerals such as carbon (as diamond and coal), native iron or native gold and silver etc.
So your question should be more specific. "The most common minerals in the earth's crust" or "the most common daily used minerals". Anyway, something like that. BOB
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GneissWare




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PostPosted: May 28, 2017 10:28    Post subject: Re: Twenty basic minerals  

Tom Mazanec wrote:
There are thousands of described minerals. I am sure nobody is familiar with all of them. But a few (say a score) I would imagine to be ones every mineral enthusiast would be expected to know.
Which are these top twenty?


Any list would have some caveats, even for the common minerals, because of the occasional weird habits and forms, but most of these are readily identifiable (in hand sample) to most mineral enthusiasts (in no particular order).

1. Quartz
2. Calcite
3. Pyrite
4. Wulfenite
5. Azurite
6. Malachite
7. Benitoite
8. Galena
9. Chalcopyrite
10. Rhodochrosite
11. Fluorite
12. Copper
13. Beryl (Aquamarine, Morganite) some others are more difficult.
14. Fluorapatite
15. Anatase
16, Corundum
17. Torbernite (nothing else looks like it)
18. Sulfur
19. Hematite
20. Gypsum

There are lots of other minerals that many can ID by sight, most of the time, but I did not include them as they can't be specifically ID to a specie. An example is garnet or tourmaline.

Hope this helps.
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SteveB




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PostPosted: May 28, 2017 23:49    Post subject: Re: Twenty basic minerals  

I've been collecting my entire life and a large amount of GneissWare's list I couldn't readily identify on the spot or even guess at. The original question I agree is itself wrong and it wil depend on what mineral specimens an individual has access to. These days even if you have a home with a yard you cant dig for rocks because the ground isnt the original natural ground anymore, soil etc had been trucked in when the home was built etc.

I would guess everyone should be confident with several items on that list. But more I would expect anyone with experience be able to identify with good confidence those items. Using tests like hardness, streak acid etc as described in this forums sticky post. Unless someone gets a specimen from the ground themselves they cant hold a specimen and say with certainty what it is, or even if its natural or lab made. Its why posts about "what rock have i got" are so stupid, there is work and experience involved in identification, not taking a blurry photo with a phone.

If the original poster could clarify the question or its purpose some more maybe they can get a real answer, otherwise i suggest they read the "identification of minerals" post as thats what people are expected to know and use to identify minerals. so many minerals have multiple names too based on location but occur worldwide and known differently. The complete list of minerals is not yet 100% sorted and defined. Same thing with plant species. Quartz might be the only mineral that should be on the list and just quartz even then natural and manmade quartz arent simple to separate.
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Tom Mazanec




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PostPosted: May 29, 2017 08:08    Post subject: Re: Twenty basic minerals  

SteveB wrote:
I've been collecting my entire life and a large amount of GneissWare's list I couldn't readily identify on the spot or even guess at. The original question I agree is itself wrong and it wil depend on what mineral specimens an individual has access to. These days even if you have a home with a yard you cant dig for rocks because the ground isnt the original natural ground anymore, soil etc had been trucked in when the home was built etc.

I would guess everyone should be confident with several items on that list. But more I would expect anyone with experience be able to identify with good confidence those items. Using tests like hardness, streak acid etc as described in this forums sticky post. Unless someone gets a specimen from the ground themselves they cant hold a specimen and say with certainty what it is, or even if its natural or lab made. Its why posts about "what rock have i got" are so stupid, there is work and experience involved in identification, not taking a blurry photo with a phone.

If the original poster could clarify the question or its purpose some more maybe they can get a real answer, otherwise i suggest they read the "identification of minerals" post as thats what people are expected to know and use to identify minerals. so many minerals have multiple names too based on location but occur worldwide and known differently. The complete list of minerals is not yet 100% sorted and defined. Same thing with plant species. Quartz might be the only mineral that should be on the list and just quartz even then natural and manmade quartz arent simple to separate.


I figure that there are minerals that should be known to any aficionado of mineralogy. Just as there are a couple dozen genera of protozoans that are basic to a knowledge of protozoology, for example. I wanted to know which I should review in the books I bought so I would "know" of them, even if I did not have a specimen.
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Peter Lemkin




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PostPosted: May 29, 2017 08:47    Post subject: Re: Twenty basic minerals  

The simplest books on minerals for amateurs will list too few 'common' minerals in my opinion; on the other hand a petrography/mineralogy text for specialists will list many you'll likely not need to know or want to know [or ever see]. Personally, I'd suggest a good mid-range book such as John Sinkankas' MINERALOGY - in my mind one of the best for the serious amateur - even handy for a pro. You can't know about too many as long as you generally avoid the very rare and ones one can only see under the microscope, etc. The more one is around minerals, the more you'll learn about and know. Classic locations and different habits, etc. are as important, IMO, as just knowing some basics about the minerals. I think the ones you want to know about are those that interest you the most - and each of us have our favorites or special interest minerals or mineral groups. Yes, one should know the basic common minerals, but 20 doesn't cover the common minerals one can easily find when hunting for them or at a show, etc. The book mentioned above is not the only good text, but I think it is the best I've ever found that is easy to read and understand for the eager beginner.
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Riccardo Modanesi




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PostPosted: May 29, 2017 11:04    Post subject: Re: Twenty basic minerals  

Hi to everybody!
As a matter of fact I started collecting minerals when I was an 8-year-old (but in this case it should be to say...young!) boy. Some friends of mine were playing with quartz crystals they found in Val Formazza (Piemonte, Italy) and I started getting fond of minerals, even because what I was playing with was truly what it represented, not a miniature (that time there was still no videogame). It was August 1973. The following Christmas I was presented a "scientific game" containing about 20 or 30 minerals, including pyrite, chalcopyrite, green, rose and amethyst quartzes, gypsum, chalcite, asbestos (that time it was still allowed), chlorite, lepidolite, fuchsite, muscovite, etc. Ok, this was my starting point. Also I was presented a book whose author was the scientist Paolo Bignardi (he was teacher of natural sciences of my father during his high school!), and I found it very interesting and comprehensible, even if I was but a boy!
The biggest majority of you already know the rest of the story, till nowadays!
Greetings from Italy by Riccardo.

_________________
Hi! I'm a collector of minerals since 1973 and a gemmologist. On Summer I always visit mines and quarries all over Europe looking for minerals! Ok, there is time to tell you much much more! Greetings from Italy by Riccardo.
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Dale Hallmark




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PostPosted: May 29, 2017 22:24    Post subject: Re: Twenty basic minerals  

I have about 125 in my have and want list. But mine is very customized to my interests. For instance I have maybe 20 different quartz's whose only difference is color. My collection is also weighted toward minerals (and rocks) that have played a role in human cultural history other than the role of jewelry.

I don't know of a list that is ranked strictly by highest percent of the crust. I have seen lists of 10 to 12 most common by % of the crust.

Interesting question.

Dale
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