Catalog Search Guide

You can search our catalog using different mineral attributes. For example, you can search by color such as green, yellow or purple, or by chemical elements such as uranium, calcium or iron, or by mineral groups such as phosphate, silicate or carbonate. You can also filter by crystal habit like crystal, geode or crystal on matrix, by specimen size such as thumbnail, small, medium or cabinet, and by features such as radioactive or fluorescent minerals.

Hematoid Quartz

Hematoid Quartz, also called Ferruginous Quartz or Fire Quartz, is a variety of macrocrystalline quartz whose characteristic red, orange, and rust tones come from included or coating hematite (Fe₂O₃). The iron oxide can form as internal phantom layers, dispersed dots and drips, or as a surface staining left by iron-rich groundwater percolating along fractures after crystal growth. Chemically it remains SiO₂ with hardness 7 on the Mohs scale, but the hematite inclusions add a distinctive pleochroic warmth not seen in plain rock crystal.

Fine specimens are documented from Brazil and Madagascar, classic sources for large, richly colored clusters and points, as well as from Arkansas in the United States, Switzerland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In Australia, notable material has come from Broken Hill in New South Wales, the McDonnell Ranges, and the Grampians region of Victoria. Related iron-quartz combinations include hematite-included amethyst and smoky quartz, expanding the range of collectible forms.

Collectors prize Hematoid Quartz for the striking contrast between clear or milky quartz and the fiery internal hematite patterning — no two pieces show identical banding, staining, or phantom structure. Well-terminated crystals and clusters with strong, evenly distributed color are the most sought after, bridging classic quartz-family mineralogy with genuinely eye-catching, display-worthy specimens.