How to Locate Minerals Using a Blacklight

Purchase a black light. The type of black light you use will determine what minerals you find. A short-wavelength light will light up the largest selection of minerals, and will cost from around $50. Medium-wave black lights will also light up a wide selection of minerals, but not as brightly as shortwave black light. Medium-wave and short-wave lights can be purchased from speciality shops (see Resources). Longwave black lights are the cheapest and easiest to find -- they can be purchased form most hardware stores for a few dollars, but they will react with only around 15 percent of the minerals known to fluoresce.

Find an area with a good number of different types of rocks. Check with your local natural history museum or the geology department at your local university to find areas near you that are geologically varied. You can also find good areas to search through the Fluorescent Mineral Society (see Resources).

Chose a moonless night in an area away from light pollution, such as street lights or buildings. Caves are also a good place to look for fluorescent minerals, even in daylight. Areas known to contain traces of gold, such as streams or caves once used for gold mining, are also good areas to search. Gold is always found together with other minerals, many of which fluoresce.

Put on your UV-safe goggles. This will protect your eyes from the UV light from the black light. Ultraviolet light can damage your retinas.

Turn on the fluorescent light and play it slowly around an area. Fluorescent minerals will glow. Use a mineral identification book to identify any minerals you find by the color of the glow. Each type of fluorescent mineral will appear differently under black light.