Name:

rutile

A photo of the mineral rutile

Class:

Oxide/Hydroxides

Chemistry:

TiO2 Titanium Dioxide

Color(s):

yellow to dark brown, reddish, black

Hardness:

6.0

SpecGrav:

4.2 - 4.3

Fracture:

conchoidal

Cleavage:

complete

Crystal:

tetragonal (prismatic thick columns, sometimes fine wire-like structures in quartz or topaz, often vertical stripes) often twinned

Envronment:

present in metamorphic rocks, pegmatites, basic magmatites.

Association:

brookite, anatase, hematite, quartz, topaz, apatite, titanite

Locals:

| Austria | Urals | Norway | Switzerland | Mexico | Brazil | Georgia /USA |

Misc:

The name is from the Latin "rutilus", which means "golden-red". There are three polymorphs of Titanium Dioxide, rutile, anatase, and brookite. Rutile is by far the most common. It is an important ore of titanium.

Photos
& Locals:

1.) Graves Mtn., Georgia
2.) Graves Mtn., Georgia
3.) Graves Mtn., Georgia
4.) Minas Gerais, Brazil (xtl. side)
5.) Minas Gerais, Brazil (xtl. termination)
6.) Bahia, Brazil (rutile penetrating hematite)

7.) Bahia, Brazil (rutile penetrating hematite)
8.) Brazil (rutile in quartz crystal)
9.) Brazil (rutile in quartz crystal)
10.) Brazil (rutile/hematite in quartz cab)
11.) Brazil (rutile/hematite in quartz cab(closeup))

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