The processes that the Earth has undergone over millions of years have led to some very interesting finds within our planet’s crust: glittering and shimmering natural gems of mind-blowing proportions and beauty. While the world’s mines toil endlessly to retrieve these unusual stones and minerals, finding them with your own hands and eyes makes them more precious than anything you could buy! Let’s take a look at just 10 incredible natural gems and minerals of the Earth.
1. Tourmaline
Tourmaline is a semi-precious stone that can appear in many different colors — sometimes multiple colors in one piece — as a result of compounding with other elements like aluminum, iron, magnesium, or potassium. It can be found in granite and marble, among other types of rocks, and darker specimens can even be magnetic due to their high iron and manganese content.
2. Malachite
Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral whose purposes throughout history have ranged from paint pigments to ornamental sculptures and jewelry. It is a popular material for tourist souvenirs in Mexico and Latin America, though the largest quantities have been mined in the Ural Mountains of Russia.
3. Ammolite
Bearing striking similarities to opal, ammolite is a gemstone formed from fossilized shells of ammonites found primarily in the Rocky Mountain range of North America. Ammonites were sea-dwelling cephalopods, similar to today’s nautilus, that became extinct during the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event.
4. Adamite
Adamite is a mineral that typically occurs in oxidized zones above zinc ore. Its hues can range from colorless to green to golden, and it can be found in Mexico, Greece, and California and Utah in the US.
5. Autunite
Not exactly the type of stone you want to handle incessantly, autunite is a fluorescent mineral that contains nearly 50 percent uranium, making this incredible mineral radioactive. One of the most interesting things about autunite, besides its tendency to form in tablular square crystals, is that it becomes another mineral entirely when dried out completely.
6. Labradorite
Hailing from the region of Labrador, Canada, Labradorite is a feldspar mineral, a group of rock-forming minerals that make up as much as 60 percent of the planet’s crust. The iridescence it sometimes displays was dubbed “labradorescence” by early 20th century scientists.
7. Uvarovite
Uvarovite is part of the garnet family, and is the only species of the family to consistently display its brilliant, emerald-like green color. It is the rarest form of garnet, and can be found in Spain, Russia, Canada, South Africa, Norway, and Finland.
8. Rhodonite
Displaying soft colors of pink and red that lend to its name, rhodonite crystals often form in thick, columnar shapes within its host rock. It is most often used in ornamental creations.
9. Kyanite
Kyanite is a deep blue silicate mineral commonly found in sedimentary rock or metamorphic rocks with a high aluminum content. While it is classified as a semi-precious gemstone, kyanite is commonly used in porcelain production and electronics.
10. Larimar
Found only in the Dominican Republic, larimar is a rare pectolite mineral that manifests in all the blues and greens of the Caribbean. Pectolites are acid silicate hydrates of calcium and sodium and are found commonly throughout the world, but the etheral blue tones of larimar come as a result of calcium being replaced with cobalt.
Featured Image from Dan Farrell/Unsplash
