This area of the web site is dedicated to showing minerals found of the local geographic area that surrounds the area where most KYANA members live and collect.
Minerals have four characteristics:
* Naturally occurring
* Inorganic
* Specific crystalline structure
* Specific chemical composition
Cubic Zirconium is man-made and is not a mineral. Neither is any synthetic gemstone or aluminum foil.
Coal and pearls are created by organic processes.
Opal does not have crystalline structure.
Amber does not have a specific chemical composition (and is organic).
Petrified wood can be a mineral (quartz) when the organic component has been completely replaced by silicon dioxide through natural processes.
Some minerals may grow in something that is analogous to plant-like structures (gypsum flowers and barite roses), but there is no organic component.
Minerals are the result from atoms joining through electrical bonds to produce a definite internal structure. Salt (the mineral halite) is a combination of sodium and chlorine atoms in a specific arrangement.
These combinations of atoms, when expressed to their end result, can create crystals.
The Occurrence of Minerals in the Ohio Valley Region
Minerals in our region occur commonly in two types of deposits – geodes and vugs. In central Kentucky and western Kentucky and southern Illinois they occur in veins. Joint fractures (nature stress fractures with thin gaps) are a minor source of minerals because they have little space for free crystal growth. The counties listed below are not a complete list – think of them as a “sampler.”
Geodes are roundish rocks lined with quartz ranging from ½-inch to more than 2-feet across. Some are “exploded” fossils, but most are from gypsum nodules that have been re-mineralized. They most commonly occur in shale, siltstone and limestone particularly in Mississippian-age rocks. Geodes are common, although not everyone is hollow and crystal-lined. In Kentucky, they are especially well-known in Boyle, Bullitt, Green, Hardin, Lincoln, Meade, and Pulaski Counties. In Indiana, they are known from Lawrence, Monroe and Washington Counties, Indiana. The best minerals occur in road cuts or quarries, but exposures in streams will have numerous quartz and chalcedony geodes.
Vugs are irregular to round openings in rock lined with crystals, without a quartz lining. They range from an inch to six or more feet across. Also called pockets, these occur in limestone or inside fossil corals and stromatoporoid sponges. Calcite and dolomite are the most common minerals in vugs. Vugs are more widespread than geodes, but require fresh exposures to have collectible crystals. In Kentucky, notable locations for vugs include Bath, Breckinridge, Hardin, Jefferson, Nelson, Oldham, Pulaski, Taylor and Washington Counties. In Indiana, they are documented from Allen, Bartholomew, Franklin, Harrison, Jennings, Marion, Pulaski, and Shelby Counties. Vugs with world-class crystals are also associated with bedding replacement deposits in the Illinois – Kentucky fluorspar district (see under ‘veins’ below).
Veins are vertical to near vertical mineralized zones. They can be thinner than one inch or as wide as fifty feet. Veins can be solid, but mineral collectors love those with gaps allowing crystals to grow. They are usually associated with “mineral districts” – multi-county areas with the widespread injection of minerals from deep within the crust. In our region, minerals were deposited at low temperatures (below 150 degrees F). Veins are noteworthy in central Kentucky from Anderson, Boyle, Owen, Scott, Fayette, and Woodford Counties. In the Illinois – Kentucky fluorspar district veins are known from Crittenden, Livingston Counties (Kentucky) as well as Hardin and Pope Counties (Illinois). The largest crystals in Kentucky are associated with veins in Boyle and Fayette Counties - they have been documented in excess of 200 pounds!
Igneous deposits are found in Elliott Co. (far eastern Kentucky) and Crittenden and Livingston Counties in far western Kentucky (and in adjacent southern Illinois). Neither of these curious rocks have collectible minerals. Both are rare ultramafic (magnesium-iron rich) deposits derived from the Earth’s mantle. Elliott County’s is a kimberlite, erupted from 120 miles below. In some locations these rocks contain diamonds, but not here. The western Kentucky deposits are thin veins called alnöites. These are finely crystalline dark greenish-gray rocks. While they could also have diamonds, none have been found.
We encourage you to explore other resources to learn the physical properties used to identify minerals. This web page will focus on images of minerals found in the area. Since the Ohio Valley is covered by sedimentary rock, the number of minerals (species) is not very large. More minerals are tied to igneous and metamorphic rocks. There are individual mines that have more minerals than found the all of the states bordering the Ohio River!
The “top five” most abundant minerals are: calcite, quartz, pyrite, dolomite, and fluorite.
Anatase (Titanium Dioxide - TiO2)
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Barite (Barium Sulfate - BaSO4)
Danville, Boyle Co., KY
East Faircloth mine, Woodford Co., KY (with fluorite)
East Faircloth mine, Woodford Co., KY (with fluorite)
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Harrodsburg, Monroe Co., IN
Harrodsburg, Monroe Co., IN
Owingsville, Bath Co., KY
Georgetown, Scott Co., KY
Springfield, Washington Co., KY
Barite on calcite, Springfield, Washington Co., KY
Calcite (Calcium Carbonate - CaCO3)
Corydon, Harrison Co., IN
Corydon, Harrison Co., IN
Danville, Boyle Co., KY
East Faircloth mine, Woodford Co., KY
East Faircloth mine, Woodford Co., KY (with fluorite & barite)
East Faircloth mine, Woodford Co., KY (with malachite & chalcopyrite inclusions)
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Harrodsburg, Monroe Co., IN
Harrodsburg, Monroe Co., IN
Hutson Mine, Livingston Co., KY
Georgetown, Scott Co., KY
Irvington, Breckinridge Co., KY
Owingsville, Bath Co., KY
Springfield, Washington Co., KY
Celestine (Strontium Sulfate - SrSO4)
Highway 1638, Meade Co., KY
Highway 1638, Meade Co., KY
Highway 1638, Meade Co., KY
Highway 1638, Meade Co., KY
Kings Mountain, Lincoln Co., KY (with lavender quartz)
Cerussite - PbCO3
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Hickory Cane Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Hickory Cane Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Hickory Cane Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Chalcedony (Quartz - SiO2)
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Chalcopyrite (Copper Iron Sulfide - CuFeS2)
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Irvington, Breckinridge Co., KY
Dolomite (Calcium Magnesium Carbonate - CaMg[CO3]2)
Corydon, Harrison Co., IN
Corydon, Harrison Co., IN
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Harrodsburg, Monroe Co., IN
Harrodsburg, Monroe Co., IN
Hutson Mine, Livingston Co., KY
Irvington, Breckinridge Co., KY
Irvington, Breckinridge Co., KY
Fluorite (Calcium Fluoride - CaF2)
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Corydon, Harrison Co., IN
Danville, Boyle Co., KY (on barite)
Danville, Boyle Co., KY
East Faircloth mine, Woodford Co., KY
East Faircloth mine, Woodford Co., KY (on calcite)
East Faircloth mine, Woodford Co., KY (on calcite with barite)
East Faircloth mine, Woodford Co., KY (with barite)
Hutson Mine, Livingston Co., KY (in sphalerite)
Irvington, Breckinridge Co., KY
Lafayette Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Galena (Lead Sulfide - PbSO4)
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Lafayette Mine, Crittenden Co., KY (in fluorite)
Geothite (Iron Hydroxide - HFeO2)
Old Jim Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Tateville, Pulaski Co., KY
Greenockite (Cadmium Sulfide - CdS)
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY (coating calcite)
Hutson Mine, Livingston Co., KY
Hematite [Fe2O3]
Springfield, Washington Co., KY (on barite)
Springfield, Washington Co., KY (inclusions in calcite)
Springfield, Washington Co., KY (inclusions in calcite with goethite)
Hemimorphite (Zinc Silicate - Zn4Si2O7[OH]2)
Hickory Cane Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Hickory Cane Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Hickory Cane Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Hickory Cane Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Hickory Cane Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Hutson Mine, Livingston Co., KY
Lafayette Mine, Crittenden Co., KY SEM Photo
Old Jim Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Hydrozincite (Zinc Carbonate -Zn5[CO3]2[OH]6)
Jamborite (Complex Nickel Mineral - [Ni2,Ni3, Fe][OH]2[OH,S,[H2O]])
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Harrodsburg, Monroe Co., IN
Harrodsburg, Monroe Co., IN
Kaolinite (Clay mineral, Aluminum Silicate - Hydroxide - Al2Si2O5[OH]4)
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY (with sphalerite)
Malachite (Copper Carbonate - Cu2CO3[OH]2)
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Irvington, Breckinridge Co., KY
Manganese Oxide - MnO2
Irvington, Breckinridge Co., KY
Marcasite (Iron Sulfide - FeS2)
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Springfield, Washington Co., KY (on calcite)
Millerite (Nickel Sulfide - NiS)
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Harrodsburg, Monroe Co., IN
Pyrite (Iron Sulfide - FeS2)
Bardstown, Nelson Co., KY (on Favosites coral)
Bardstown, Nelson Co., KY (coating a brachiopod)
Bardstown, Nelson Co., KY
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY "Wire Pyrite"
Springfield, Washington Co., KY (on pink calcite & barite)
Pyromorphite (Lead Chloro-Phosphate - Pb5[PO4]3Cl)
Lafayette Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Lafayette Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Quartz (Silicon Dioxide - SiO2)
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY (SEM Photo)
Corydon, Harrison Co., IN
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Kings Mountain, Lincoln Co., KY (amythestine, with calcite)
Lafayette Mine, Crittenden Co., KY (SEM Photo)
Smithsonite (Zinc Carbonate - ZnCO3)
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY (with fluorite & kaolinite)
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Danville, Boyle Co., KY (on barite)
Danville, Boyle Co., KY (Greenockite-coated)
Hickory Cane Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Hutson Mine, Livingston Co., KY
Hutson Mine, Livingston Co., KY
Hutson Mine, Livingston Co., KY
Old Jim Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Old Jim Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Smythite (Iron Nickel Sulfide - [Fe,Ni]9S11)
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Sphalerite (Zinc Sulfide - ZnS)
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Columbia Mine, Crittenden Co., KY
Halls Gap, Lincoln Co., KY
Hutson Mine, Livingston Co., KY
Hutson Mine, Livingston Co., KY
Hutson Mine, Livingston Co., KY
Owingsville, Bath Co., KY
Strontianite (Strontium Carbonate - SrCO3)
Highway 1638, Meade Co., KY (on celestine)
Highway 1638, Meade Co., KY (oil-stained)
Highway 1638, Meade Co., KY
Highway 1638, Meade Co., KY (SEM photo)
Salem, Washington Co., IN (on calcite)
Salem, Washington Co., IN (with calcite on fenestrate bryozoan)
Salem, Washington Co., IN (on calcite)
Sulfur - S
Highway 1638, Meade Co., KY
