Mineral detectives!

Finding out about minerals is detective work. There are thousands of different minerals, all with different properties - like colour, shape and hardness. For any one mineral you have to think carefully about each of these different properties, and then put all this information together to identify it properly - its easy, once you know how.

To find out more about minerals and their properties, take a closer look and select one of the links below.

Ernest the mineral detective Take a closer look

Colour
Light
Lustre
Streak
Crystal shape
Hardness
Cleavage and fracture
Heaviness
Other tests

What we have learnt ...

And to see if your detective skills are up to scratch play our fun card game!
Mineral mastermind!

Ernest the mineral detective To find out about minerals you should Take a closer look, and then find out about some of their properties...

Colour Light
Lustre Streak
Crystal shape Hardness
Cleavage and fracture Heaviness
Other tests What we have learnt

Return to the Detectives homepage, or finish by playing Mineral mastermind!