Some gangue minerals are important for industrial use, these are listed under Gangue minerals. No particular mineral can be assigned to any one deposit, all deposits are different and therefore contain different minerals. There are hundreds of ore minerals and gangue minerals the most common are listed on this page. The diagnostic characteristics of these minerals are stated in terms of what they look like with the naked eye, these characteristics have blue subheadings. The diagnostic characteristics for some of the metallic ore minerals are stated in terms of their appearance under light microscopy,in plain polarized light, these characteristics have green sub headings.
Photos accompany each mineral, ones with light microscopy data also have microscope pictures.
To get to the original location of the photo click on it. The blue coloured box to the left is a contents bar. The quiz at the end of the page can be used to test your knowledge. Any errors are the responsibility of the author. If you have comments or questions, please contact the page author or Roger Suthren .