Talc

Talc is a mineral that is easy to identify on the field. It has a whitish color to it but sometimes it has a greenish tinge and in some occasions it is green. Talc is very soft and will scratch very easily. Talc has a crystalline structure but it is not normally found this way. In general most of the deposits are very big. Even though most talc is ground down to powder, masses of finely grained talc are known as soapstone and are sold as blocks. It is very easy to powder talc in the field and it can also be carved easily with a knife. Talc has a greasy luster, a hardness of 1 to 1.5 and a specific gravity of 2.7 to 2.8.