About the Index.

Mineral Index is a free, careful catalogue of mineral species — for anyone who has picked up a stone and wanted to know its name.

We gather what is known about each species and put it in one place. The amateur, the student, and the curator all read the same entry. Where the science is unsettled, we say so. Where a specimen is rare, we cite it. Where a mineral can harm you, we say that plainly.

Trust comes from sources, not tone. Every claim should trace back to its origin — a paper, a type locality, a museum record — within two clicks.

Every species page follows the same shape: identity, chemistry, crystallography, physical and optical properties, occurrence, hazards, and references.

If we cannot trace a value to a source, we leave the field blank. A blank field is honest; an invented one is not. Here is where the material comes from.

Species & data

Mindat — identity, classification (Strunz and Dana), localities, properties, and the reference literature.

Names & identifiers

Wikidata, for names across languages and stable identifiers.

Crystal structures

RRUFF — the published .cif refinements behind the 3D structure viewer.

Photographs

Wikimedia Commons and Europeana (Europe's museum and library collections) — each image credited and licensed, never published without a verifiable licence.

The Index is a reference, not a safety data sheet. Before you handle anything you believe to be hazardous, read the source we cite.

The Index is an open project. Found an error, a missing reference, or a better photograph of a poorly documented species? Write to contact@mineralindex.org.