[Rockhounds] Fw: SOFTWARE FOR INDENTIFYING MINERALS

[magnet]

I agree with Pete M to a large degree. For example, I was stumped by some yellow bipyramidal crystals on quartz. They turned out to be wickmanite, a manganese tin hydroxide. It required a friend of mine analysing it. An expert system would have struggled with that one, although it may have eventually got there. It came from a tin mine after all. 

By the way Kreigh, the first part of 
>  If the formula is Si02 then the mineral is Quartz.
>  If the mineral is Quartz then the formula is SiO2.
is not necessarily true. Yes, the mineral would be quartz in the vast majority of occasions, but it could be coesite, tridymite, stishovite, cristobalite or lechatelierite!

Regards
Steve

Check out Steve's Spot at http://crocoite.blogspot.com/