CHAPTER TWO:

INTRODUCTION TO
MINERALOGY
WEEK 3
Lesson Outcomes

Student should be able to:

◼ Define of the term mineral

◼ Characterize the various physical properties

of minerals

◼ List out the atomic structure of the silica

tetrahedron
Contents of This Chapter

Mineralogy
1. Definition and Understanding of Minerals
2. Importance of Minerals to Civil Engineering Works
3. Identification and Physical Properties of Minerals
4. Microscopic Properties of Minerals
5. Rock Forming Minerals
- Silicate Minerals
- Non-silicate Minerals
6. The Importance of Clay Minerals to Civil Engineering
Definition of mineral?

◼ A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic, solid, with a

definite chemical composition and uniform atomic
structure, and is made up of elements.
◼ Minerals can be identified on the basis of features such as
cleavage, color, hardness, and luster.
◼ Characteristic of mineral:
➢ Naturally occurring - not formed in a lab

➢ Inorganic - not formed by organisms

➢ A solid - not a liquid or gas

➢ Definite chemical composition - consistent chemical

formula
➢ Uniform atomic structure - a three dimensional
organization of atoms
➢ Made up of one or more elements
Formation of Minerals

Minerals are formed in nature by a variety of processes. Among

them are:
❑ Crystallization from melt (igneous rocks)

❑ Precipitation from water (chemical sedimentary rocks,

hydrothermal ore deposits)

❑ Biological activity (biochemical sedimentary rocks)

❑ Change to more stable state - (the processes of weathering,

metamorphism, and diagenesis).

❑ Precipitation from vapor. (not common, but sometimes does

occur around volcanic vents)
Why minerals and rocks are important to civil engineers?

◼ Minerals, rocks and soils that occur at the surface and

beneath the Earth’s crust are the materials with which the
engineers must work with.

◼ In designing any new structures or underground works,

engineers must be able to evaluate and distribute natural
materials present at site to incorporate during the design
stage and assessment, which is impossible without general
understanding of the physical and chemical characteristic
of minerals and rocks that make up the Earth’s crust.

◼ Knowledge of minerals is essential for engineers who deals

with earth materials since minerals are partially responsible
for the physical and mechanical properties of rocks and
soils encountered in mines, tunnels, opencasts and
excavations.
Chemical Composition of Minerals
Physical Properties of Minerals
◼ Minerals can be identified based on its physical properties,
which are characteristics that can be observed or
determined by simple tests.

◼ General characteristics of minerals are:

i) Colour vi) Crystal form
ii) Lustre vii) Tenacity
iii) Streak viii) Specific gravity
iv) Transparency ix) Hardness
v) Cleavage and Fracture x) Reaction with acid

◼ Other properties that can establish the type of minerals

which will not be discussed here include:
i) Refraction and v) Birefringence
refractive index vi) Pleochroism
ii) Fusibility vii) Taste
iii) Fluorescence viii) Dispersion
iv) Magnetism ix) Electrical conductivity
i) Colour

• The colour of a mineral is one of its most obvious attributes,

and is one of the properties that is always given in any
description.
• Some minerals display a rainbow of colours [shown by the
mineral fluorite (CaF2)] and some quartz display range of
colours from colourless crystals to purple, red, white, grey and
jet black.
◼ The colour of minerals can be referred using colour chart for
rocks.

Beryl - Quartz – purple Sulphur - yellow Fluorite - blue

colourless Amethyst
◼ Color results from a mineral’s chemical composition,
impurities that may be present, and flaws or damage in the
internal structure. Unfortunately, even though color is the
easiest physical property to determine, it is not the most
useful in helping to characterize a particular mineral.

◼ Some minerals do have only a single color that can be

diagnostic, as for instance the yellow of sulfur. Also,
although many minerals vary in color few span the spectrum
of colors as fluorite does. Often we find most color
variations of a given mineral are consistently light colored
(white, tan, pink, yellow) or dark colored (gray, black, blue,
green).
ii) Lustre
Is the appearance of a mineral surface in reflected light.
◼ This can be described by the degree of brightness
such as:
a) Metallic – the light is reflected by the mineral such
as pyrite or galena.
b) Vitreous – like broken glass such as quartz.
c) Resinous – greasy shine like resin such as opal.
d) Silky – silky shine in fibrous minerals.
e) Dull – no lustre visible such as chalk and kaolinite.

Pyrite - metallic Kaolinite – dull Sulphur - Malachite - silky

resinous
iii) Streak
◼ The streak of a mineral is the colour of its powder.
◼ This becomes important in the sense that for some minerals,
the colour is entirely different from that of their powder.
◼ Crushing and powdering a mineral eliminates some of the
effects of impurities and structural flaws, therefore it is more
diagnostic for some minerals than their colour.
◼ Streak can be determined for any mineral by crushing it with a
hammer but it is more commonly (and less destructively)
obtained by rubbing the mineral across the surface of a hard,
unglazed porcelain material called a streak plate.
◼ The colour of the powder left behind on the streak plate is the
mineral's streak.
iv) Transparency
◼ Transparency is the degree to which a
mineral allows light to pass through it.
◼ Transparency is described as: Orthoclase - opaque
a) Opaque – light is prevented from passing
through the mineral and nothing can be
seen through it. i.e. orthoclase.
b) Transparent - Minerals which allow light to
pass through fully and objects on the other Gypsum - transparent
side are seen clearly through the mineral.
i.e. gypsum.
c) Semi-transparent – Minerals which allow
light to pass partially and objects are seen
hazy through the mineral. i.e. milky white Quartz – semi-transparent

varieties of quartz
d) Translucent – minerals which allow only
some diffused light to pass through.
Tanzanite - translucent
v) Cleavage and Fracture

◼ When a mineral sample is broken with a hammer, it breaks along planes

of weakness that are part of its crystalline structure. These breaks are
cleavages. Some minerals break only in one direction. Others break in
two or more directions.

◼ Some common forms of cleavage are cubic, rhombohedral, and basal.

Cubic cleavages form cubes (example, halite). Rhombohedral cleavages
form six-sided prisms (example, calcite). Basal cleavages occur along a
single plane parallel to the base of the mineral (example, topaz).

◼ If a mineral breaks easily and cleanly in one or more directions, its

cleavage is considered perfect. For example, calcite cleaves perfectly
along three planes. As the quality of the break decreases, cleavage may
be described as good, distinct, and poor or none. Some minerals cleave
perfectly in one direction and poorly in others. For example, gypsum
cleaves perfectly on one plane and poorly along two others.
◼ Minerals that do not break
along cleavage planes, tend
to fracture, or break,
unevenly into curved or
irregular pieces.
Figure shows the
cleavage in one, two,
◼ Types of fractures are based three, four and six
on their appearance: directions of
minerals.
a) uneven or irregular.
b) splintery or fibrous.
c) curved or conchoidal.

Figure shows the

fractures of minerals
which are uneven,
conchoidal and
fibrous.
vi) Crystalline Form

◼ A crystal is a solid that forms by repeated 3-dimensional patterns of atoms,

ions, or molecules.

1) Amorphous- Minerals that do not grow in regular crystalline-patterns

2) Crystalline- Minerals that grow in regular crystalline patterns.

◼ Crystal structures consist of definite arrangements of the atoms of the

elements that make up the minerals.

◼ In contrast to chemical molecules, which have defined sizes, crystal

structures have no size limits although a crystal structure does have a basic
building unit called a unit cell.

◼ There are six basic crystalline forms:

• Isometric -- Also called the cubic crystal system. Crystals
are usually shaped like blocks, with similar and symmetrical
faces. The crystal has three axes of symmetry, all at right
angles to each other, and all of the same length.
Example: pyrite.
• Tetragonal -- Typically, the crystals are shaped like four-
sided prisms and pyramids. Each crystal has three axes, all
perpendicular to one another. Two axes are the same length
and lie on a horizontal plane. The third axis is not the same
length and is at a right angle to the other two.
Example: zircon.
• Hexagonal and trigonal-- These crystals are usually
shaped like six-sided prisms or pyramids. Each crystal has four
axes of symmetry. Three lie in the same plane, are the same
length, and intersect at 120° angles. The fourth axis is not the
same length, and is perpendicular to other three.
Example: beryl,quartz.
• Orthorhombic -- These crystals are short and stubby. Each
crystal has three unequal axes, all at right angles to one
another.
Example: topaz
• Monoclinic -- Crystals are short and stubby with tilted faces
at each end. Each crystal has three unequal axes. Two axes lie
in the same plane at right angles to each other. The third axis
isinclined.
example: gypsum.
• Triclinic -- Crystals are usually flat with sharp edges, but
exhibit no right angles. Each crystal has three unequal axes.
None are perpendicular to one another.
Example: feldspar.
vii) Tenacity
◼ Is the response of minerals to hammer blows, cutting with a
knife and to bending.
◼ Minerals that can be beaten into new shapes are malleable for
example native metals of gold, silver and copper.
◼ Most minerals are brittle and fracture when struck with
hammer and some brittle minerals can be cut with a knife are
described as sectile.
◼ Some minerals are flexible and elastic such as flakes of mica
but cleavage flakes of gypsum are flexible but inelastic.

viii) Specific Gravity

◼ Defined as the weight of a specific volume of a mineral divided
by the weight of an equal volume of water.
◼ Specific gravity is measured by determining the weight in air
(Wa) and the weight in water (Ww) and computing specific
gravity from SG = Wa / (Wa-Ww).
ix) Hardness

◼ Hardness or resistance to abrasion is

measured relative to a standard scale of ten
minerals, known as the Moh’s Scale of
Hardness.
◼ The Mohs Hardness Scale is a relative scale.
This means that a mineral will scratch any
substance lower on the scale and will be
scratched by any substance with a higher
number. Most often we are able only to
narrow down hardness to within a certain
range; for example, if an unknown mineral
scratches a copper penny but does not
scratch a glass plate, its hardness must be
greater than 3.0 and less than 5.5. Usually
this range of values is sufficient to identify
an unknown.
◼ The hardness of a mineral is controlled by
the strength of bonds between atoms and is
measured by the ease or difficulty with
which it can be scratched.
x) Reaction with Acid

◼ When dilute hydrochloric acid (typically 10 %) is dripped

onto some minerals, notably the carbonates, a reaction
takes place.
◼ Calcite produces bubbles of carbon dioxide when reaction
takes place while in some iron sulphide ores, hydrogen
sulphide is produced.
 Rock Forming Minerals

◼ All minerals can be classified into two main groups based on their
chemical composition:
i) silicate minerals.
ii) non-silicate minerals.
◼ Silicate mineral - group of minerals contains SiO44- as the
dominant polyanion. In these minerals the Si4+ cation is always
surrounded by 4 oxygen in the form of a tetrahedron.
◼ Because Si and O are the most abundant elements in the Earth, this
is the largest group of minerals and is divided into subgroups based
on the degree of polymerization of the SiO4 tetrahedra.
◼ The silicates are the largest, the most interesting and the most
complicated class of minerals by far which are approximately 40%
of all minerals and some geologists estimate that 90% of the Earth's
crust is made up of silicates.
◼ Hence the existence of a silicon tetrahedron will make a mineral as a
silicate mineral and its absence will make it as a non-silicate
mineral.
Atomic Structures of Minerals
◼ The Silicates are divided into the following subclasses, not
by their chemistries, but by their structures:
i) Nesosilicates (single tetrahedrons)
ii) Sorosilicates (double tetrahedrons)
iii) Inosilicates (single and double chains)
iv) Cyclosilicates (rings)
v) Phyllosilicates (sheets)
vi) Tectosilicates (frameworks)

Silicate tetrahedron
(Isolated tetrahedra)
Silicate Minerals
◼ Silicate minerals are divided into:
i) Quartz group
ii) Feldspar group
Quartz
iii) Pyroxene group
iv) Amphibole group
v) Mica group
vi) Miscellaneous groups of silicate
such as olivine and clay minerals
Albite from
feldspar group

Muscovite from Hornblende from Augite from

mica group amphibole group pyroxene group
i) Quartz Group

◼ Quartz is the most common mineral on the face of the Earth and
it is frequently the primary mineral, > 98 %.
◼ It is found in nearly every geological environment and is at least
a component of almost every rock type.
◼ Colour is as variable as a spectrum, but clear quartz is by far
the most common colour followed by white or cloudy (milky
quartz), purple (Amethyst), pink (Rose Quartz), grey or brown to
black (Smoky Quartz).
◼ Lustre is glassy to vitreous as crystals.
◼ Crystals are transparent to translucent.
◼ Crystal System varies and most common is hexagonal with two
rhombohedrons (six sided pyramid) and some are trigonal.
◼ Cleavage is very weak in three directions (rhombohedral) and
the fracture is conchoidal.
◼ Hardness is 7, less in cryptocrystalline form.
◼ Specific Gravity is 2.65 or less if cryptocrystalline. (average)
◼ Streak is white.

With Mineral Name: Crystal System: Symmetry: Specific Gravity: Index of Refraction:

Coesite Monoclinic 2/m SG= 3.00 IR= 1.59

Cristobalite Tetragonal 422 SG= 2.32 IR= 1.48

Beta Cristobalite Isometric 4/m Bar 3 2/m SG= 2.20 IR= 1.48

Keatite Tetragonal 422 SG= 2.50 IR= 1.52

Quartz Trigonal 32 SG= 2.65 IR= 1.55

Beta Quartz Hexagonal 622 SG= 2.53 IR= 1.54

Stishovite Tetragonal 4/m 2/m 2/m SG= 4.28 IR= 1.81

Tridymite Monoclinic* 2/m or m SG= 2.26 IR= 1.47

Beta Tridymite Hexagonal 6/m 2/m 2/m SG= 2.22 IR= 1.47

Opal, SiO2 - n(H2O) and a very rare pure silica glass called lechatelierite, SiO2 are amorphous, do not have
symmetry and have variable properties, but they are sometimes considered to be a part of the Quartz Group.
THE MINERAL
QUARTZ
ii) Feldspar Group

◼ The feldspars are a group of minerals that have similar

characteristics due to a similar structure.
◼ All feldspars have low symmetry, being only monoclinic, 2/m, to
triclinic, bar 1.
◼ Tend to twin easily and one crystal can even be multiply
twinned on the same plane, producing parallel layers of twinned
crystals.
◼ They are slightly hard at around 6, and have an average density
at 2.55 to 2.76.
◼ They have a rather dull to rarely vitreous luster.
◼ Some feldspars may be triboluminescent.
◼ They have two directions of cleavage at nearly right angles.
◼ Feldspars also tend to crystallize in igneous environments, but
are also present in many metamorphic rocks
◼ Some of the more common feldspar minerals
are: Albite

a) The Plagioclase Feldspar

- Albite, (Sodium aluminum silicate) Oligoclase
- Oligoclase, (Sodium calcium aluminum
silicate)
- Andesine, (Sodium calcium aluminum
silicate) Andesine
- Labradorite, (Calcium sodium aluminum
silicate)
- Bytownite, (Calcium sodium aluminum
Anorthite
silicate)
- Anorthite, (Calcium aluminum silicate)

b) The K-feldspar or Alkali Feldspar Orthoclase

- Microcline, (Potassium aluminum silicate)
- Sanidine, (Potassium sodium aluminum
silicate)
Microcline
- Orthoclase, (Potassium aluminum silicate)
iii) Pyroxene Group

◼ Common rock forming minerals and are represented in most igneous

and metamorphic rocks.
◼ Usually dark coloured (dark green to black).
◼ Typical structure contains chains of SiO3 tetrahedrons which has one
flat edge that lies on the ‘base’ of the structure as if the entire chain
were a chain of connected three sided pyramids.
◼ The slope of the tetrahedral pyramids helps to determine the
cleavage angle of the pyroxenes at nearly 90o.
◼ Members of the pyroxene group include:
a) Monoclinic
- Augite (Sodium iron silicate)
- Diopside (Calcium magnesium silicate)
b) Orthorhombic
- Enstatite (Magnesium silicate) Augite
- Ferrosilite (Iron magnesium silicate)

Enstatite
iv) Amphibole Group

◼ Minerals are mainly monoclinic and the crystals are

elongated in the c-direction and usually bounded by six
vertical faces with the angle intersect of 124o.
◼ Hornblende is the most abundant amphibole as a
common constituent in igneous and metamorphic rock.
◼ Colour ranges from green to brown.
Hornblende
v) Mica Group

◼ A group of monoclinic minerals whose property of

splitting into very thin flakes is characteristic and
recognisable.
◼ This is due to the perfect cleavage parallel to the basal
plane in mica crystal which in turn results from the
layered atomic structure.
◼ Abundant in granite, in many metamorphic rocks and
significant component of many sandstones.
Muscovite
WEEK 4
Lesson Outcomes

Student should be able to:

◼ Differentiate between silicate and no silicate

minerals

◼ Differentiate between sand and clay minerals

Non-silicate Minerals

◼ Non silicate-minerals are minerals that do not contain silica

tetrahedrons.
◼ These minerals are generally classified as:
i) Oxides and hydroxides
ii) Carbonates
iii) Sulphides
iv) Halides
v) Sulphate

Clockwise from upper left: Halite, spinel,

gypsum, hematite, calcite, pyrite and galena
 The Oxides Class
Including both Oxides and Hydroxides
◼ The oxide class of minerals is a rather diverse class. It includes
minerals that are quite hard (corundum) and some that are quite
soft such as psilomelane.

◼ It has metallic minerals such as hematite and gemstones such as

corundum, chrysoberyl and spinel. Many oxides are black but
others can be very colorful. The large diversity of oxides can be
partially attributed to the extreme abundance of oxygen in the
Earth's crust.
• Oxygen comprises over 45% of the Earth's
crust by weight. Most of this is locked up in
more complex minerals based on chemical
complex anions such as CO3, BO3, SO4, NO3,
SiO4, PO4 and others.
• But great opportunities exist for single oxygen
ions to combine with various elements in many
different ways. In a strict sense, minerals that
belong to the more complex mineral classes
such as the silicates are really oxides.
• By convention therefore, the oxides are limited
to non complex minerals containing oxygen or
hydroxide. Oxides also contain mostly ionic
bonds and this helps distinguish members from
the more complex mineral classes whose bonds
are typically more covalent in nature.
Example of Oxide class:
•Corundum (Aluminum Oxide)
•Hematite (Iron Oxide)
•Ice (Hydrogen Oxide)
•Ilmenite (Iron Titanium Oxide))
•Microlite (Calcium Sodium
Tantalum Oxide Hydroxide Fluoride)
•Chromite (Iron Chromium Oxide)
•Magnetite (Iron Oxide)
•Spinel (Magnesium Aluminum
Oxide)
•Uraninite (Uranium Oxide
•Valentinite (Antimony Oxide)
•Zincite (Zinc Manganese Oxide)
Subclass: Hydroxides

Brucite (Magnesium Hydroxide)

Gibbsite (Aluminum Hydroxide)
Goethite (Iron Oxide Hydroxide)
Limonite (Hydrated Iron Oxide Hydroxide)
Manganite (Manganese Oxide Hydroxide
CORUNDUM
Common Non-silicate Minerals
PETROGRAPHIC
MINERAL

QUARTZ
CALCITE
BIOTITE
 The Importance of Clay Minerals to Civil Engineering

◼ Clay minerals are a part of a general but important group within the
phyllosilicates that contain large percentages of water trapped
between the silicate sheets.
◼ Most clays are chemically and structurally analogous to other
phyllosilicates but contain varying amounts of water and allow more
substitution of their cations.
◼ There are many important uses and considerations of clay minerals
such as in manufacturing, drilling, construction and paper
production.
◼ Clay minerals have great importance to crop production as they are
significant component of soils.
◼ It is the physical characteristics of clays than the chemical and
structural characteristics that define this group which are:
i) They can absorb water or lose water from simple humidity changes.
ii) They tend to form microscopic to sub microscopic crystals.
iii) They can mixed with limited amounts of water, clays become plastic
and able to be moulded and formed in ways.
iv) When water is absorbed, clays will often expand as the water fills
the spaces between the stacked silicate layers.
◼ Due to the absorption of water, the specific gravity of clays is highly
variable and is lowered with increased water content.
◼ The hardness of clays is difficult to determine due to the microscopic
nature of the crystals, but actual hardness is range between 2 - 3 and
many clays give a hardness of 1 in field tests.
◼ Clays are rarely found separately and are usually mixed not only with
other clays but with microscopic crystals of carbonates, feldspars,
micas and quartz.
◼ Clay minerals are produced mainly from weathering of feldspar and
micas which formed part of a complex alumino-silicates group of
potassium, magnesium and iron known as layer-lattice minerals.
◼ It is composed of two basic units, namely silica tetrahedron and alumina
octahedron where each tetrahedron consist of four (4) oxygen atoms
surrounding a silicon atom and the combination of tetrahedral silica
units gives silica sheet.
◼ The octahedral units consist of six hydroxyls surrounding an aluminum
atom and the combination of the octahedral aluminum hydroxyl units
gives an octahedral sheet.
 Configuration of Clay Minerals

(a) Silica Tetrahedron (b) Alumnia Octahedron

(c)Silica Sheet (d) Octahedron Sheet

Layer Lattice Minerals

Structure Dioctahedral or Gibbsite Trioctahedral or Brucite

Layer Layer

2 layer Kaolinite Serpentine

Dickite Chrysotile
Necrite

3 layer Pyrophyllite Talc

Muscovite Biotite
Montmorillonite Chlorite
Illite Vermiculite

Two Layer Lattice Three Layer Lattice

i) Kaolinite Group
These are chief constituents of kaolin and china
clay derived from the weathering of orthoclase
(potash) feldspar which is an essential mineral of
granite. Kaolinite is a typically flaky and exhibit
low water absorption together with low
susceptibility to shrinkage and swelling under
variations in water content.

ii) Illite Group

The degradation of micas under marine
conditions results in a group of structurally
similar minerals called illites. These minerals are
predominant in marine clays and shales such as
London CLAY and Oxford CLAY. Some illites are
produced during weathering of orthoclase which
not all potassium ions are removed. Illites exhibit
great tendency of water absorption together with
greater shrinkage and swelling characteristics.
iii) Montmorillonite Group
The minerals in this groups is also known as smectite
and occurs as the chief constituents of bentonite,
fuller’s earth clays and tropical black cotton soils.
Montmorillonite often results from the degradation of
illite but also formed by the weathering of plagioclase
feldspar in volcanic ash deposits. It exhibits very high
water absorption with very high shrinkage and swelling
characteristics.

iv) Vermiculite Group

This group contain weathering products of biotite and
chlorite. The structure of vermiculite is almost similar
to that of montmorillonite except that the cations
providing inter-sheet linkage of predominantly
magnesium, Mg accompanied by some water
molecules. Vermiculite exhibit less severe shrinkage
and swelling potential in comparison with
montmorillonite.
Geological Map of Malaysia