Hematite
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Find out how to identify minerals (...and learn what shape, luster, color, streak, hardness, cleavage and fracture are all about!)
Meet some other nonsilicate minerals!
Hematite
A piece of hematite may look like just a dark gray blob. That might seem difficult to identify but with a streak test you can easily identify it! Just rub the mineral against a white streak plate and it will form a small amount of red powder!
The largest amounts of hematite are found in sedimentary rocks, often as thin layers between layers of quartz or chert.
Hematite is an important ore of iron. It is also used to make red paint and it is made into jewelry such as beads.
- Shape: Trigonal (commonly occurs as tabular crystals)
- Luster: Metallic to sub-metalic to dull
- Color: Reddish-brown, gray to black
- Streak: Red
- Hardness: 5.5 to 6.5 on Mohs Hardness Scale
- Cleavage: None
- Fracture: Conchoidal
Last modified April 25, 2003 by Lisa Gardiner.
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