Identifying Valuable Rocks

Video Transcript

"Hi this is Jane Stammer from the Colorado School of Mines and I'm here to answer questions on how to identify valuable rocks. Valuable rocks are found all over the world and depending on their scarcity, some are more valuable than others. Valuable rocks such as garnets or tourmaline can be found in jewelry and these are considered semi-precious minerals. Other minerals that are more valuable such as gold or silver or platinum and mined all over the world and these are very, very rare and that's what causes them to be more valuable than other types of minerals. Depending on the size and shape and clarity of specific minerals, they can be more valuable than others. Also certain types of fossils which aren't necessarily minerals, but more imprints left by animals can also be valuable. And that is how to identify valuable rocks."