Quartz, the World's Most Common Mineral (Part Two--Rose Quartz)

  
      Rose quartz is a member of the quartz family of minerals. Its chemical makeup is the same as that of colorless quartz and it possesses most of the same properties, though it is different in the fact that it is very brittle and does not usually from as crystals, but as massive lumps. As its name might imply rose quartz is pink in color; this color is thought to be the product of titanium impurities, which makes sense to me because rutile, a titanium mineral, is found inside quartz crystals very often! Rose quartz is almost never transparent because it is usually filled with cracks, but every piece that I’ve seen has been translucent. When something is called translucent that means that it allows light to pass though it, but one cannot see through it.
Rose quartz has little use outside of rock and mineral collecting. It is occasionally used as jewelry, but it is not very popular. Rose quartz is also used to make decorative carvings, and, like its colorless counterpart, is occasionally used in landscaping.
     Rose quartz possesses one very interesting quality, which I think is worth mentioning here. If you have two pieces of rose quartz, try taking them into a dark room and ramming them together rapidly for a few moments. Eventually they will start to spark when they collide. Though the are many interesting aspects of rose quartz, I have to say that this is my favorite!
     Since it is a quartz mineral, rose quartz could theoretically be found anywhere in the earth’s crust. However if you want the highest quality pieces the place to find them would be Madagascar, but it can be found in greater quantities in Brazil. Other sources include Spain, Scotland, and the former USSR. Colorado is a good source of rose quartz in America and I own some pieces that I believe to be from Arizona. Whether or not rose quartz is found in the next location that I am about to mention, I do not know, but if you want to buy rose quartz there is no better place on earth (in my opinion) than Custer, South Dakota. There are many rock and mineral shops in that area and there I saw tables laden with boulders of rose quartz twice the size of bowling balls! I like rose quartz and am glad that our Creator chose to create it!