Colors from metal ions in minerals
All of the examples of colored minerals on this page have
color due to metal ions. Ions of the first row transition
elements (Ti to Cu) are normally responsible for color in these
minerals. These ions have electrons in the five 3d
orbitals. In the crystallographic sites found in minerals, the 3d
orbitals split into different energies. Visible light interacts
with these electrons and causes them to be excited to higher
energy orbitals. The wavelengths that cause these transitions are
subtracted from the incident light resulting in color.
First Row Metals
- Ca2+, Sc3+,
and Ti4+ by
themselves all cause no color in minerals. They have no electrons in
d-orbitals. Titanium can interact with other metal ions to cause color
as discussed in the section on intervalence charge transfer.
- Ti3+ by itself is not a factor in
the coloration of
most terrestrial minerals. Through intervalence charge transfer and
band gap process it can contribute to the color of a few
extraterrestrial minerals such as hibonite and pyroxene and the rare
blue examples of the terrestrial TiO2 minerals,
rutile. Chains of edge-sharing octahedra in Ti3+
clinopyroxene from the Allende
meteorite give rise to a olive-green color. Originally it was
argued by Dowty and Clark (1973) that features from both Ti3+
Ti3+ - Ti4+ intervalence
contribute to the color, although later Burns (1973) argued that only Ti3+
was responsible for the color. Here is a picture of a solution of Ti(H2O)3+ the shows the color of Ti3+ in octahedral coordination, and here is a picture of Ti3+ in a fully-reduced synthetic Al2O3 crystal.
- V3+ in grossular
garnet (tsavorite variety from Kenya) causes the green color.
(tanzanite variety) it
contributes to the color which varies depending upon the direction in
which you view the crystal (pleochroism). It also colors several other minerals from Tanzania including diopside, tremolite, and titanite.
- VO2+ causes bright blue color in a
few minerals. Cavansite
from India shows the typical blue color of
this ion. Synthetic
clinopyroxene grown from lithium vanadate flux can commonly
incorporate this ion and cause blue color. In apophyllite from India, the color is more
green than blue.
- Cr3+ is an important cause of color in many minerals. It causes both red and green colors. Cr3+
causes green color in emerald from Columbia, grossular from the Jeffrey Mine, synthetic
orthopyroxene, zoisite from Tanzania, 'chrome'-diopside from Russia and Myanmar, the green variety of spodumene from North Carolina called hiddenite, the green vesuvianite from Ludwig, Nevada, and jadeite from Burma.
Red color from Cr3+ is
seen in spinel
from Burma and synthetic ruby.
- Mn3+ causes red and green colors in
octahedral sites. Muscovite
mica from Brazil containing
is red as is Mn3+ in beryl
orthopyroxene, adamite from Mapimi, Mexico, and piemontite
from Whitewater, California. Andalusite containing Mn3+
green. In the amphibole, tremolite,
from New York, it produces a violet color.
- Mn2+ usually results in a pink color
from Minas Gerais, Brazil, is
a pyroxenoid containing Mn2+and has the typical
of Mn2+ minerals. Rhodochrosite
from Colorado has a high concentration of Mn2+ and
a bright red color. At
lower concentrations, Mn2+ causes pale pink
When the Mn2+ is in a tetrahedral site, then
color results such as is the case with willemite from Franklin, New Jersey.
- Mn4+ is normally encountered as black manganese oxides (MnO2) such
as pyrolusite and hollandite. A rare example in which it is present as individual ions is the yellow-green mineral, despujolsite. However, natural (or laboratory)
irradiation of a manganese-containing variety of the pyroxene
spodumene, LiAlSi2O6 known as kunzite, will oxidize the manganese to Mn4+ that produces a green color in freshly mined kunzite from the Oceanview Mine and other localities. This color show significant change with the direction of linerally polarized light. The Mn4+ is unstable and will be reduced to Mn3+ after a few hours exposure to sunlight.
- Fe2+ in forsterite
from Hebei Province, China, and in phosphophyllite from Bolivia
is the ion responsible for
the green color. In some minerals with high concentrations of Fe2+,
such as fayalite or orthopyroxene,
the color is brown.
- Fe2+ in the four-coordinated square planar site of gillespite from El Rosario, Baja, California, Mexico, or eudialyte
from the Kola
Penninsula, Russia, produces a rasberry red color.
- Fe2+ in the eight-coordinated site
garnet from Tanzania
produces the near-red color. Higher concentrations of iron make the color darker.
- Fe3+ in octahedral sites causes
only pale color when
the Fe3+ ions are isolated from each other by
silicate ions, etc. Pale purple color is found in phosphates such as strengite and sulfates such as coquimbite. Yellow-green can be
found in ferric
silicates such as andradite
garnet from Italy.
- Fe3+ is in the tetrahedral site of plagioclase
feldspar from Lake
County, Oregon, produces a pale yellow color. In an unusual variety of diopside containing
in a tetrahedral site, it produces bright orange color in thin section.
- Co2+ in distorted six-coordination in synthetic
olivine and cobaltian
calcite from the
Kakanda Mine, Zaire, causes a typical reddish color. Other Co minerals can be pink to red such as bieberite, CoSO4•7H2O, from Chile; erythrite, Co3(AsO4)2•8H2O, from Winchester, California, and roselite, Ca2Co(AsO4)2•2H2O, from Bou Azer, Morocco.
- Co2+ in tetrahedral
sites causes blue color such as found in
some spinels from Baffin Island and spinels from Viet Nam
- Ni2+ in synthetic
olivine has the green color typical of Ni2+
octahedral site. If all the nickel is forced in to the larger M2 site
by appropriate chemical substitution (in this case in a LiScSiO4
olivine), the color is yellow, typical of Ni2+
distorted sites. Other Nickel minerals are commonly green such as pecoraite, Ni3Si2O5(OH)4, from Western Australia; zaratite, Ni3(CO3)(OH)4•4H2O, from Tasmania, Australia; and falcondoite, Ni4Si6O15(OH)2•6H2O, from Texas, Pennsylvania.
- Cu2+ usually occupies sites
distorted from octahedral
geometry. It produces blue and green color in minerals such as azurite, malachite, aurichalcite and the blue
elbaite tourmaline from
Other Metal Ions
- Rare-earth elements (Ce, Pr, Nd) are occasionally factors
color of minerals. They have narrow lines in the absorption spectra
when they are in the normal 3+ oxidation state. Minerals with abundant
rare earths often have brown to orange-brown colors. Rare earths can be
seen in the spectra of many minerals.
The rare-earth elements have distinctive colors in the 3+
oxidation state and distinctive absorption spectra that change
little with different hosts. Here are some examples of synthetic
rare-earth garnets and phosphates.
Several of the garnets illustrated show
evidence of contamination by other rare-earths - better examples
to come in the future
- The UO22+ ion
is responsible for the
brilliant yellow color of many uranium minerals such as carnotite and autinite.
- U4+ gives blue color to zircon.
Often asked questions about color in minerals
- What about lithium? It is widely believed that Li
various colors in minerals. Li+ does
not cause color;
it has no electrons in the d-orbitals. It frequently
other ions such as Mn which do cause color.
- What about cesium? It is widely believed that Cs
various colors in minerals. Cs+ does
not cause color;
it also has no electrons in d-orbitals. It frequently
other ions such as Mn which do cause color.
Back to the list
of causes of color
Back to the
Mineral Spectroscopy home page
last updated: 4-Sep-2023