# Rock and mineral identification tool

Canonical page: https://lithomap.app/resources/rock-mineral-identification-tool
Last reviewed: September 17, 2026
Page purpose: Interactive, field-first decision support that links observable clues to possible LithoMap rock and mineral guide matches.

The tool asks the reader to choose rock or mineral and then select confirmable observations. Rock clues are grouped into texture and structure plus composition and tests. Mineral clues are grouped into luster and color, breakage and form, and tests and weight. Every current LithoMap rock and mineral guide has a clue profile.

Results are ranked by the number of selected clues shared with a guide profile. Each result lists the exact selected clues responsible for the match, distinguishes a one-clue broad possibility from stronger overlap, and suggests useful next checks drawn from the leading candidates. Suggestions must be selected only when the reader can actually confirm them. The ranking is transparent and deterministic. It is not image recognition, artificial certainty, appraisal, or laboratory analysis.

## Identification principles

- Observe a clean, unpolished surface before testing.
- Prefer texture, breakage, hardness, streak, magnetism, and acid response over color alone.
- Use two or more independent clues when possible.
- Treat weathered, altered, mixed, and manufactured samples cautiously.
- Do not taste minerals or create unnecessary dust.
- Possible matches do not establish value, origin, ownership, legal access, or collecting permission.

Rock guide directory: https://lithomap.app/resources/rock-identification
Mineral guide directory: https://lithomap.app/resources/mineral-identification
Field-test procedures: https://lithomap.app/resources/field-tests