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Articles On Gems, Minerals & Crystals
Explore FossilEra’s Articles on Gems, Minerals & Crystals — your gateway to fascinating stories about Earth’s most beautiful and scientifically intriguing natural treasures. From rare mineral formations and colorful gemstones to iconic crystals and their geological histories, our expert-written guides
Latest Articles
Orpiment - Mineral & Crystal Guide
Explore orpiment, the brilliant yellow arsenic sulfide mineral. Learn its properties, toxicity, formation, history, and major localities in this in-depth guide.
Barite - Mineral & Crystal Guide
Learn about barite, a dense sulfate mineral known for stunning crystals and major industrial uses. Includes properties, formation, history, and localities.
Shattuckite - Minerals & Crystal Guide
Learn about shattuckite, a rare blue copper silicate mineral. Explore its properties, formation, history, and key localities around the world.
Pyromorphite: Mineral & Crystal Guide
Pyromorphite is a striking lead phosphate mineral known for bright green crystals. Discover how it forms, its history, uses, and notable locations.
Pyrite — Mineral & Crystal Guide
Discover pyrite’s many crystal forms, geological significance, role in iron and sulfur cycles, and its use through history.
Citrine: Mineral & Crystal Guide
Learn how citrine forms, why natural citrine is rare, its history, properties, and how to spot heat-treated amethyst sold as citrine.
Kämmererite: The Rare Purple Chlorite Mineral
Kämmererite is a purple chromium-bearing chlorite from mantle-derived serpentinite. Rare, soft, and stunning, it forms in very few places on Earth.
Plumbogummite: Mineral & Crystal Guide
lumbogummite is a secondary lead aluminum phosphate from oxidized ore zones. Learn how it forms, where it’s found, and its role in supergene mineral deposits.
Rose Quartz — Mineral & Crystal Guide
Rose quartz is a quartz variety colored by microscopic silicate inclusions. Learn its geologic formation, global deposits, history, optical properties, and how it differs from pink quartz.
Obsidian — Nature’s Volcanic Glass
Obsidian is frozen lava turned to glass, prized by ancient civilizations and collectors today. Learn how it forms and how to detect fake obsidian in the market.
Sodalite: Mineral & Crystal Guide
Discover sodalite, the 19th-century mineral marvel that left the lab for jewelry and stone carving. Learn how it forms, where it's found, and its modern uses.
Citrine Imitated - Burnt Amethyst, Golden Marketing
Most citrine for sale started as amethyst. Discover why natural citrine is scarce and the visual clues that reveal heat-treated quartz sold as citrine.
Uruguay’s Giant Amethyst Geodes: A New Origin Story
New research reveals the cool-water, million-year journey behind Uruguay’s giant amethyst geodes. Explore their formation in basalt cavities and the thriving Artigas mining industry that brings cathedral amethyst to the world.
Hemimorphite: Mineral & Crystal Guide
Hemimorphite: the rare zinc silicate mineral with asymmetric crystal terminations, ocean-blue botryoids, and a long history of being mistaken for calamine.
Titanite — The Crystal With Unforgettable Fire
Titanite outshines diamond with stronger rainbow fire, sharp wedge crystals, and a hidden geological timeline—where sparkle meets Earth history.
Mookaite Jasper: A Vibrant Record of Ancient Seas
Learn about Mookaite jasper is a colorful silica-rich sedimentary rock from Australia, formed from ancient radiolarian skeletons on a Cretaceous seafloor.
Mutant Minerals: Nature’s Radiation-Colored Crystals
Mutant minerals are nature’s radiation-colored masterpieces—discover how invisible energy transforms crystals like amethyst, fluorite, and amazonite into some of Earth’s most colorful wonders.
Amethyst: Purple Quartz That Became a Legend
Amethyst explained: formation, color, geodes, famous localities, and the history behind the world’s most famous purple quartz.
Selenite: Forming The Worlds Largest Crystals
Learn what selenite is, how it forms, and why it grows some of the largest crystals on Earth, including the famous Cave of the Crystals in Mexico.
Magnetite: Earth’s Natural Magnet
From lodestone to steel, magnetite has shaped civilization. Explore its formation, magnetic properties, uses, and cultural history.
Lizardite: The Serpentine Mineral with Scaly Secrets
What is lizardite? This in-depth guide covers its formation, properties, uses, and how it stands apart from other serpentine minerals.
Tinzenite: A Rare Borosilicate from the Swiss Alps
Learn about Tinzenite, a rare axinite-group mineral from the Swiss Alps, known for its vivid orange color, unique chemistry, and strong collector appeal.
Stibnite: Mineral & Crystal Guide
Discover stibnite — the shiny metallic mineral prized since antiquity for cosmetics, medicine, and industry. History, geology, and collector facts.
Amazonite: A Feldspar Shaped by Radiation and Time
An in-depth guide to amazonite feldspar—covering color origins, geology, Colorado mining history, and collector-grade specimens.
Lapis Lazuli: The Legendary Blue Stone of Kings & Gods
Discover the history of lapis lazuli—from ancient mines and sacred art to ultramarine pigment, formation, and uses across civilizations.
Wulfenite: One of Nature’s Most Striking Lead Minerals
Learn about wulfenite—its formation, crystal structure, vibrant colors, famous localities, and commonly associated minerals.
Are Serpentine and Jade the Same Mineral?
Serpentine: Mineral & Crystal Guide
A comprehensive guide to serpentine: how it forms deep in Earth, main mineral types, global occurrences, and its historical and decorative uses.
Rhodonite: A Deep Dive into the Rose-Colored Mineral
Learn about rhodonite’s formation, history, types, uses, and famous localities in this in-depth guide to the world’s most iconic pink manganese mineral.
Chinese Writing Stone - Geological Calligraphy
Explore the geology, history, and origins of Chinese Writing Stone, the striking patterned rock known for its script-like mineral inclusions.
Andradite: The Garnet Family’s Colorful Chameleon
Discover andradite garnet: its colors, varieties, formation, history, uses, and the world’s top localities for this rare and dazzling mineral.
Rainbow Garnets: Nature’s Fireworks Trapped in Stone
earn about iridescent rainbow garnets—the rare garnets that display vivid natural color flashes. Discover how they form, where they’re found, and what makes them so prized.
Striped Flint: A Polish Geological Teasure
Polish striped flint blends stunning natural banding, Jurassic origins, and 6,000 years of human craftsmanship—discover its geology, rarity, and rich mining history.
Vanadinite – Nature’s Fiery Red Lead Mineral
Explore vanadinite’s brilliant red crystals, unique chemistry, and fascinating journey from “brown lead” to a collector favorite.
Dioptase – Nature’s Emerald Made of Copper
Dioptase: Discover the vivid emerald-green copper mineral prized for its rarity, history, and stunning crystals formed in the oxidized zones of ancient copper deposits.
Uvarovite - The Green Jewel of the Garnet Family
Learn what makes uvarovite the rarest green garnet, from its chromium-rich color to its scarce deposits and sparkling crystal druses.
Banded Iron Formations (BIF): Ancient Records of Earth's Atmosphere
Banded Iron Formations, or BIFs, are one of Earth's oldest and most intriguing geological records, providing a fascinating window into the planet’s early atmosphere, oceans, and the dawn of life.
Ammolite Announced As Alberta's Official Gemstone
As of Thursday, the 17th of March, Alberta’s government announced plans to name ammolite as the official gemstone of the province. This revelation should surprise no one, as Alberta has become nearly synonymous with the iridescent, fossil ammonite shell.
How Is Tiger's Eye Formed?
Minerals, Crystals, Rocks & Stones: What’s The Difference?
Does Rose Quartz Form Crystals?
Rose quartz is a pink colored variety of quartz that is coarsely crystalline. It is found only in a massive state and does not form individual crystals with external faces.
Purple Crystals & Stones
Outside of amethyst and fluorite, purple is one of the rarer colors in the mineral world.
What Is Amethyst Worth? Amethyst Price & Valuation
Up until the discovery of large amethyst deposits in Brazil during the early 19th century, amethyst was considered a precious gemstone comparable to diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds.
How Do Geodes Form?
Geodes are spherical rocks with crystal-lined cavities. Learn how they form and become lined with crystals.
What is the largest geode in the world?
Two geodes geodes are claimed to be the largest in the world, the Pulpi Geode in Spain and Ohio's celestite crystal cave.
Agate, Chalcedony & Jasper - What’s the Difference?
Chalcedony is a broad term to describe a microcrystalline form of silica. Agate is any type of chalcedony which is translucent, while jasper is any type of chalcedony which is opaque.
Celestite: The Sky-Blue Mineral of Ancient Seas
Celestite is a strontium based mineral that frequently has a deep, sky-blue coloration. It tends to form attractive, well-shaped crystals often found inside of geodes.
Is Kambaba Jasper A Stromatolite?
Kambaba jasper is a greenish stone full of black orbs that superficially resembles fossil stromatolites. But, is it one?
About Minerals & Crystals
Minerals are the building blocks of almost everything earth and crystals are some of nature's most spectacular wonders. But, how do they form.
10 Most Popular Crystals
Crystals are very trendy right now. We've created a list of some of the most popular and colorful ones.