MOROCCO MINERALS FOR SALE - GALLERY 3

Colour is the most obvious property of a mineral, but it is often non-diagnostic. It is caused by electromagnetic radiation interacting with electrons (except in the case of incandescence, which does not apply to minerals). Two broad classes of elements are defined with regards to their contribution to a mineral's colour. Idiochromatic elements are essential to a mineral's composition; their contribution to a mineral's colour is diagnostic.