This page brings together 27 minerals that start with the letter B, running alphabetically from “Babingtonite” to “Bytownite.” You’ll find everything from common rocks like bauxite to rare collector’s gems like benitoite. Many of these minerals are valued ores, supplying metals such as aluminum, copper, bismuth, and rare earth elements, while others are prized simply for their striking colors and crystal shapes.
Minerals are naturally occurring solid substances with a specific chemical makeup and an orderly internal crystal structure. They form the building blocks of rocks and have shaped human history, from beryl crystals cut into emeralds for ancient royalty to borax used in everyday cleaning products. Each one carries its own story of how it formed deep within the Earth.
Below you’ll find the table with the mineral names and their descriptions.
Mineral: This gives you the name of each mineral so you can quickly scan the list alphabetically and find the exact one you’re looking for.
Description: This offers a short, plain explanation of each mineral, covering its color, chemical type, and common uses so you understand what makes it special.
Minerals
Mineral
Babingtonite
Baddeleyite
Barite
Bastnäsite
Bauxite
Bayldonite
Benitoite
Beryl
Beryllonite
Betafite
Biotite
Bismuthinite
Bixbyite
Boehmite
Boleite
Boracite
Borax
Bornite
Boulangerite
Bournonite
Brazilianite
Brochantite
Bronzite
Brookite
Brucite
Bustamite
Bytownite
Descriptions
Babingtonite
A rare dark green to black silicate mineral containing iron and calcium, prized by collectors for its crystals and notable for being weakly magnetic.
Baddeleyite
A zirconium oxide mineral, brown to black in color, used as a source of zirconium and valued in geochronology for radiometric dating.
Barite
A common barium sulfate mineral, often heavy and pale, widely used as a weighting agent in oil and gas drilling muds.
Bastnäsite
A carbonate-fluoride mineral and one of the most important ores of rare earth elements like cerium and lanthanum.
Bauxite
A reddish-brown rock and the world’s main ore of aluminum, formed by intense weathering of rock in tropical climates.
Bayldonite
A rare green copper-lead arsenate mineral that forms as a secondary mineral in oxidized zones of ore deposits.
Benitoite
A rare blue barium titanium silicate, the official state gem of California, famous for its sapphire-like fluorescent blue crystals.
Beryl
A beryllium aluminum silicate whose gem varieties include emerald, aquamarine, and morganite, depending on trace coloring elements.
Beryllonite
A rare colorless to pale yellow sodium beryllium phosphate, occasionally cut as a collector’s gemstone.
Betafite
A radioactive niobium-titanium oxide mineral of the pyrochlore group, often dark brown and found in granite pegmatites.
Biotite
A common dark mica mineral, brown to black, found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks and easily split into thin flexible sheets.
Bismuthinite
A bismuth sulfide mineral with a metallic gray luster, serving as an important ore of the element bismuth.
Bixbyite
A black manganese iron oxide mineral that forms distinctive cubic crystals, named after mineralogist Maynard Bixby.
Boehmite
An aluminum oxide hydroxide mineral that is a major component of bauxite and an important source of aluminum.
Boleite
A rare deep indigo-blue lead-copper chloride mineral that forms striking cubic crystals, prized by collectors.
Boracite
A magnesium borate chloride mineral, usually colorless to green, notable for its pyroelectric and piezoelectric properties.
Borax
A soft white hydrated sodium borate mineral, widely used in detergents, glass, and as a cleaning and household compound.
Bornite
A copper iron sulfide ore mineral famous for its iridescent purple-blue tarnish, earning the nickname “peacock ore.”
Boulangerite
A lead antimony sulfide mineral forming gray fibrous or needle-like crystals, sometimes called “feather ore.”
Bournonite
A lead copper antimony sulfide mineral with metallic gray crystals, known to collectors as the “cogwheel ore” for its shapes.
Brazilianite
A yellow-green sodium aluminum phosphate mineral, first found in Brazil, occasionally faceted as a collector’s gemstone.
Brochantite
A green copper sulfate hydroxide mineral that forms as a secondary mineral in oxidized copper deposits in arid regions.
Bronzite
A brownish iron-magnesium silicate of the pyroxene group, named for its bronze-like metallic sheen on cleavage surfaces.
Brookite
One of the three natural forms of titanium dioxide, typically brown and platy, named after mineralogist Henry Brooke.
Brucite
A magnesium hydroxide mineral, often white or pale green, used as a source of magnesia and as a flame retardant.
Bustamite
A pink to brownish manganese calcium silicate mineral, related to rhodonite and found in metamorphosed manganese deposits.
Bytownite
A calcium-rich plagioclase feldspar, usually gray, occasionally found as transparent yellow gem-quality crystals.
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