Catalog Search Guide

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Hematite

Hematite is an iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) and the most important ore of iron on Earth, prized by collectors for its dramatic contrast between a silvery-black metallic luster and its unmistakable deep red-brown streak. Crystallizing in the trigonal system, it forms tabular plates, botryoidal "kidney ore" masses, rosette clusters known as iron roses, and mirror-bright specularite. Chemically related to corundum and ilmenite, hematite belongs to the hematite group of rhombohedral oxides.

Classic type localities include Cumbria (Cumberland), England, source of superb specular and kidney-ore specimens, and Rio Marina on the island of Elba, Italy, mined since Etruscan times. Minas Gerais, Brazil — especially Itabira, Jaguaracu and Antonio Pereira — supplies thick, lustrous crystals, while Novo Horizonte and Brumado in Bahia yield striking flat plates, sometimes epitactic with rutile. Exceptional prismatic crystals come from the Wessels Mine in the Kalahari manganese fields of South Africa, tabular "iron roses" from the Cavradi Gorge in Switzerland and the Thomas Range, Utah, and fine botryoidal material from Nador, Morocco.

Collectors seek hematite for its brilliant metallic sheen, unusual crystal habits, and historical importance as a pigment and iron ore since prehistoric times. Its high density, distinctive red streak, and striking association with magnetite, goethite, quartz and rutile make it a rewarding species for both systematic and aesthetic mineral collections.