Physical Properties |
|
| Chemical formula | Fe2O3 |
| Class | Oxide |
| Crystal system | Hexagonal (rhombohedral) |
| Habit | Aggregate Massive Rosette Botryoidal Reniform Micaceous/foliated Tabular |
| Color | Red-brown to black Steel gray |
| Hardness | 5.5 to 6.5 |
| Specific gravity | 4.9 to 5.3 |
| Cleavage | None |
| Fracture | Subconchoidal |
| Luster | Submetallic |
| Transparency | Translucent to opaque |
| Streak | Brick red |
Optical Properties |
|
| PPL | Usually opaque If thin enough, may be deep red |
| XPL | Usually opaque If thin enough, may be deep red |
| δ | 0.28 |
| after Perkins, 371 |
Hematite in Hand Sample
Hematite
Oolitic hematite
Specular hematite
Purplish-blackish botryoidal hematite with whitish, radiating barite and reddish quartz on quartzite
Specular hematite in banded iron formation
Hematite in 3D
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Hematite in Thin Section
Hematite can be tricky. If it’s too thick, it’ll be as opaque as any metallic mineral. If it’s thin enough, you can see its reddish color in both PPL and XPL.
Thin Section GigaPans
Hematite cement in conglomerate, plane polars
Hematite cement in conglomerate, crossed polars
