Mineral detectives

Finding out about minerals is detective work. There are thousands of different minerals, all with different properties - like colour, shape and hardness.

For any one mineral you have to think carefully about each of these different properties, and then put all this information together to identify it properly - its easy, once you know how.

Take a closer look

Stop! Don't go any further! To identify a mineral, you must first look at it carefully! Many of its properties can be discovered just by careful observation.
You can also use a magnifying glass or a hand lens to see more detail in your mineral. You may see some structures that you could miss with the naked eye.