And Now: Red and Pink Minerals

After putting together the guide to black minerals yesterday, I moved on to the red minerals, throwing in pink for good measure. It surprised me a little that there are actually not a lot of truly red minerals in the general run of rocks. Beyond pink feldspar in granites and red garnet in lots of rocks, the other minerals with a red default are just a handful, found in special settings. I think my surprise arises from two facts: red rock is widespread in the wild, and red specimens are widespread in the shops. The red rock is stained by iron oxide minerals, and the specimens are of rare species that you won't find in the field. Also, we have so many different red gemstones, which are exceptional examples of minerals that are normally not red. So go see the Red and Pink Minerals. When you get down to it, there aren't that many to learn.