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Introduction to Mineralogy (3rd Edition)

by William D. Nesse · Oxford University Press

University textbook merging traditional and optical mineralogy, treating crystallography, chemical bonding, controls on mineral structure, mineral stability and crystal growth, then describing the rock-forming mineral groups within their geologic and petrologic context.

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Rocks & Minerals (Smithsonian Handbook)

Pocket field guide to more than 500 rocks and minerals, organised by chemical class, with 600 photographs of cut specimens against a plain ground and side-by-side notes on hardness, cleavage, lustre, streak and distinguishing features. Hands-on identification is a real skill in this topic and this is the guide rockhound and geology communities converge on: organised by mineral chemistry rather than by colour, so it teaches classification while being used, and photographed consistently enough to actually match specimens.

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Optical Mineralogy (Open Textbook)

Fifteen-chapter open reference for identifying minerals in thin section under a petrographic microscope, organised by mineral group, with extensive photographs, rotation videos showing optical variability, and a procedure for working through unknown grains. Laboratory identification is a distinct hands-on skill from field identification, and this is the free resource that teaches it with real photographs and rotation video rather than idealised diagrams.

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Mineralogy (Open Textbook)

Free college-level textbook in fourteen chapters covering mineral chemistry and properties, crystallography and symmetry, X-ray diffraction, and the igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic and ore mineral groups, with over 1,200 figures and a mineral encyclopedia. This is the spine a self-learner reads front to back.

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Handbook of Mineralogy

Five-volume reference from the Mineralogical Society of America giving one-page data sheets for roughly 1,000 mineral species: crystal data, physical and optical properties, X-ray powder patterns, chemistry, occurrence, and literature citations. Free searchable PDFs.

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Mindat.org — The Mineral Database

Community-curated database of every IMA-approved mineral species, with crystallographic data, physical properties, photographs, and over 300,000 documented occurrences across roughly 68,000 localities worldwide. The single highest-leverage free reference in mineralogy — species data, chemistry, crystal systems, photographs, and locality records in one place. Run by the non-profit Hudson Institute of Mineralogy since 2000.

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