What Are Some Rare Minerals?

Gemstones

• Diamond, turquoise, garnet, sapphire, ruby and opal are examples of rare minerals that are well-known and valued for their use in jewelry.

Precious Metals

• Gold, silver, copper and platinum are rare minerals that are valued for their uses in jewelry and industry.

Rare Minerals Used in Industry

• The rare elements rhodium and rhenium are extremely expensive because they are useful for causing and speeding up chemical reactions that are essential to some types of manufacturing.

Rare Minerals from Space

• The creation of some rare minerals, such as platinum and rhodium, requires temperatures and pressures not found naturally on Earth. Scientists theorize that these minerals were deposited on Earth during the formative years of the solar system.

The Rarest Minerals

• Certain minerals can be found in only extremely specific locations on Earth. For example, Moolooite can only be found in Mooloo Downs station in Murchison, Australia, where bird guano undergoes a chemical reaction with copper sulfides.