Field Guides Pegmatite Prospecting: Where the Big Crystals Hide How to recognize pegmatite bodies in the field and read their zones for topaz, beryl, tourmaline, and giant micas.
Identification Beryl (Aquamarine and Emerald) Identification Sheet The beryllium silicate behind emerald, aquamarine, and morganite: long hexagonal prisms, harder than quartz, in pegmatites.
Identification Magnetite Identification Sheet The strongly magnetic iron oxide: black streak, octahedral crystals, and a pull on the pocket magnet no lookalike can match.
Identification Corundum (Ruby and Sapphire) Identification Sheet The Mohs 9 anchor at the top of every field kit: ruby and sapphire are the same mineral, identified by extreme hardness and barrel-shaped…
Identification Topaz Identification Sheet The Mohs 8 reference mineral: hard enough to scratch quartz, with perfect basal cleavage and striated prismatic crystals.
Field Guides Reading Rocky Mountain Geology in the Field A regional primer on the rock units, structures, and collecting settings members encounter across the Mountain West.
Identification Quartz Identification Sheet Field identification cues for quartz and its common varieties, with a decision path for separating it from lookalikes.
