Checking for Harness

In order to check for hardness a lot of prospectors begin with softer tests to begin with. If it is noticeable that it is a soft mineral, a prospector will try to scratch it with his or her fingernails. If the prospector notices that this procedure does not cause a scratch on it, the prospector will usually go for a pocketknife or a piece of quartz. If the quartz causes there to be a scratch, the next is a topaz test. If after doing the topaz test it does not scratch the mineral that is being tested but the quartz does, it means the mineral has a hardness of seven and eight. Normally you will not need to test more after this. If the mineral tests to be eight or over a lot of prospectors will consider that it is necessary to take it to get assayed professionally since most likely it is valuable or at least has some value in it.

Unfortunately though, to be able to demonstrate that a mineral is between seven and eight in hardness is not much proof of anything, and a great deal of the minerals you will find will end up in this rage of harness as well. However, not to fret because after you have found the harness of a mineral you will be able to do several other tests that will help you identify what you have found in the field. Some of these different things include:

The color of the mineral: One of the things that are usually more noticeable when a mineral is found is the color of the mineral. Nonetheless, due to the fact that a lot of different minerals have the same color, color the harness test is in most occasions done first. After this, the elimination of possibilities of color can be started.

It is also vital you learn about what things might change the color before you decide to change your reference table. The different things that can cause color variations are natural and artificial lighting; wetness, fresh surfaces as well as cold surfaces can also cause little differentiation in the color.