By Name A list of minerals in alphabetical order By Class Elements, Oxides, Carbonates, etc. Interesting Groupings Gemstones, Birthstones, etc. Full Text Search Mineral identification by keyword searching The halides are a group of minerals whose principle anions are halogens . Halogens are a special group of elements that usually have a charge of negative one when chemically combined. The halogens that are found commonly in nature include Fluorine, Chlorine, Iodine and Bromine.
Halides tend to have rather simply ordered structures and therefore a high degree of symmetry.
There are only a few common halide minerals. The typical halide mineral is soft, can be transparent, is generally not very dense, has good cleavage, and often has bright colors.