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set: minerals // series: // picture: 1

Some minerals occur in extremely small crystals and a microscope is needed to see them. This image is taken in reflected light, where light is reflected back from a polished surface of the mineral. The field of view is approximately one twentieth of a millimetre (50 microns) across, and shows crystals of quartz (grey, low reflectance) and pyrite (creamy, high reflectance). In the centre of the pyrite is some gold (yellow) associated with pale-blue tetradymite (Bi2Te2S). Also present are small inclusions of grey pyrrhotite (formula close to FeS) and brownish chalcopyrite (CuFeS2). Microscope studies on ores such as this can be extremely important when designing an operation to maximise the extraction of one mineral from an ore. (Note the linear scratches on the sample which were produced during the polishing operation and during subsequent handling and examination.)
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