Bismuth (Bi) – The Popular Rainbow Element Bismuth Chemical & Physical Properties Bismuth has been known and used by humans for hundreds of years for its host of remarkable properties. The mineral we know as bismuth was originally referred to as Wismut by 15th-century German monks, the name coming from the German phrase meaning “white mass.”…
What is Common Opal? Common Opal is a specific type of opal that usually exists in one color, and has no play-of-color when flashed with light. Unlike precious opal, common opal appears to be “glassy” with transparent and translucent properties. A common blue opal or fire opal gemstone will predominantly reflect one pigment of color from any…
What is Precious Opal? Precious opal is any type of natural opal gemstone that shows a “play of color,” such as flakes of variable colors reflecting from inside the specimen upon white light exposure. Unlike common opal, a precious stone can reflect multiple colors from a single viewpoint. For an example of an opal stone…
The Black Quartz Crystal (Morion) is Actually the Smokey Quartz Gemstone The black quartz crystal is actually the same mineral as smokey quartz and morion quartz, and only differs from the common quartz mineral due to its aluminum content. In fact, aluminum is the root cause of its light-absorbing characteristic, which causes a translucent-gray to…
Agate Types & Geological Properties of the Agate Crystal The agate crystal is a microcrystalline-quartz mineraloid that has a lustrous display of multi-color banding and results from long-term accumulations of siliceous groundwater deposits in rock cavities. Much like other mineraloids, all agate types form over thousands of years inside the existing voids of other igneous,…
