What are non metallic minerals referred to as?
The terms ‘metallic’ and ‘non-metallic’ are used in mineralogy to describe the appearance of a mineral. If a mineral has a metallic lustre, then it looks like a metal – many sulphide minerals are of this sort. However, it does not look like a metal, it is called non-metallic although in fact it may contain metals. Most silicates, oxides and carbonates fall into this class. There are also a few minerals that do not have metals in their composition, like diamond and graphite , which are forms of carbon, and quartz. There are also a number of minerals referred to as ‘non-metallic’ to distinguish them form ore minerals used for extraction of metals. They include quartz, calcite, beryl and some micas although Calcium is in fact a metal and most micas do contain some metal..
