Ressources
Links last checked in October 2026.
These are the main sources we use to check the entries on Rock of Science. Each one does something specific, so we explain what to look for where.
Mineral and locality databases
Mindat
The largest open database of minerals and their localities. Go here to see where a species has been found, often down to the mine, along with photos shared by collectors around the world.
Mineralienatlas
A mineral, rock and locality database built by a German collector community. Its coverage of European sites is especially strong. Parts of the site are available in English.
Athena Mineralogy
A compact database hosted by the University of Geneva. Fast for checking a formula, crystal system, mineral group or type locality in one look.
RRUFF Project
Run by the University of Arizona. It holds lab data on reference samples: Raman spectra, X-ray diffraction patterns and chemical analyses. Useful when a label needs to be confirmed by analysis rather than by eye.
IMA List of Minerals
The official list of approved mineral species. Check here whether a name is valid, discredited, or still under question.
Scientific reference
Handbook of Mineralogy
One page per species: formula, crystal data, physical and optical properties, type locality and key references. Free to read, hosted by the Mineralogical Society of America.
Mineralogical Society of America
The main scientific society for mineralogy in the United States, and publisher of the journal American Mineralogist.
Mineralogical Association of Canada
Canada’s mineralogical society, and publisher of The Canadian Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology, formerly The Canadian Mineralogist.
Museum collections
Smithsonian National Gem and Mineral Collection
About 350,000 mineral specimens and 10,000 gems. The online GeoGallery shows highlights from the collection.
Natural History Museum, London: Data Portal
Open access to the museum’s collection records, including its mineralogy holdings.
Yale Peabody Museum: Mineralogy & Meteoritics
More than 60,000 mineral specimens. Yale’s collection was the basis for James D. Dana’s System of Mineralogy, one of the main references in the field.
Mineralogical and Geological Museum at Harvard
The oldest university mineral collection in the United States. Its archive section shows digitized historic catalogs and original specimen labels.
Carnegie Museum of Natural History: Hillman Hall
More than 1,300 specimens on display in Pittsburgh, with a section devoted to Pennsylvania minerals.
Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle: Gallery of Geology and Mineralogy
Opened in 1837 in the Jardin des Plantes, Paris, as the first building designed to be a museum. Known for its giant crystals.
Mineralogy Museum, Mines Paris
About 100,000 samples, built since 1794. Some 2,000 species are on display, arranged by the Strunz classification.
Musée des Cristaux, Chamonix
Crystals from the Alpine massifs, especially Mont Blanc: pink fluorite, smoky quartz, axinite and epidote. During French school holidays, guided tours are led by a crystal hunter from the Chamonix mineralogy club.
For collectors
The Mineralogical Record
Published six times a year since 1970. Locality articles, histories of famous collections, show reports, and careful specimen photography.
Rocks & Minerals
Published since 1926. Feature articles on specimen mineralogy and localities, written for both collectors and professionals.
Tucson Gem and Mineral Society
Founded in 1946, it organizes the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, held each February at the Tucson Convention Center.
If you spot an error on any page of Rock of Science, please let us know and we will correct it.