Currently, there are 4000 known minerals, with new discoveries being made year after year. Here are a few yellow minerals to inspire your next palette.

Color in Minerals

The absorption of light, and the apparent color, is determined by a mineral's atomic bonds which are made up of electrons that absorb certain wave lengths. The colors produced through absorption and emittance are usually produced by transition metals. Even trace amounts of these elements can have a drastic effect on color.

• Cobalt produces the violet-red color in erythrite, (cobalt arsenic sulfide).
• Chromium produces the color orange-red color of crocoite, (lead chromate).
• Copper produces the azure blue color of azurite, (copper carbonate hydroxide).
• Iron produces the red color of limonite, (hydrated iron oxide hydroxide).
• Manganese produces the pink color of rhodochrosite, (manganese carbonate).
• Nickel produces the green color of annabergite, (hydrated nickel arsenate).
• Uranium produces the yellow color of zippeite, (hydrated potassium uranyl sulfate hydroxide).
• Vanadium produces the red-orange color of vanadinite, (lead vanadate chloride).

© Tom Loomis / Dakota Matrix

Cuprite  Color    Brown red, Purple red, Red, Black     Location    Christmas mine, Gila Co., Arizona, USA     Luster    Adamantine     Streak    brownish red

© Lou Perloff / Photo Atlas of Minerals

Kermesite  Color    Violet red, Cherry red, Red.     Location    Pezinok (Pernek), near Bratislava, Solvakia     Luster    Adamantine     Streak    brownish red

© Thomas Witzke / Abraxas-Verlag

Duranusite  Color    Gray-white with a brownish tint and brownish red internal reflections     Location    Duranus, Alpes-Maritimes, France

© Jeff Weissman

Cuprotungstite  Color    Brown red, Red     Location    Apache Mine, Hidalgo County, New Mexico, USA     Luster    Resinous     Streak    yellow

© Dave Barthelmy

Crocoite  Color    Yellow, Orange, Red, Red orange     Location    Adelaide Mine, Dundas, Tasmania     Luster    Adamantine     Streak    yellowish orange

© Richard Dale / Dale Minerals

Sarabauite  Color    Carmine red, Red     Location    Sarabau Mine, Sarawak Province, Borneo     Luster    Resinous     Streak    orange

© John Veevaert

Metahewettite  Color    Red     Location    Cactus Rat mine, Grand County, Utah     Luster    Silky     Streak    brownish red

© Lou Perloff / Photo Atlas of Minerals

Spessartine  Color    Red, Reddish orange, Yellowish brown, Reddish brown, Brown     Location    Haramosh Mountains, Baltistan, Northern Areas, Pakastan     Luster    Vitreous - Resinous     Streak    white

© Lou Perloff / Photo Atlas of Minerals

Ferrierite-Na  Color    Colorless, White, Pink, Orange, Red     Location    Monte Lake, British Columbia, Canada     Luster    Vitreous - Silky     Streak    white

© John Veevaert

Eudialyte  Color    White, Colorless, Red, Yellowish white, Reddish white     Location    Mt. St. Hilaire, Quebec, Canada     Luster    Vitreous - Silky     Streak    white

© Tom Loomis / Dakota Matrix

Amarantite  Color    Brown red, Orange red, Pink, Red     Location    Chuquicamata, Antofagasta, Chile     Luster    Vitreous (Glassy)     Streak    yellow

© Dan Weinrich

Apatite  Color    White, Yellow, Green, Red, Blue     Location    Tip Top mine, Custer, Custer County, South Dakota, USA     Luster    Vitreous (Glassy)     Streak    white

© Lou Perloff / Photo Atlas of Minerals

Hancockite  Color    Brown, Brick red, Brownish red, Maroon     Location    Franklin, Sussex County, New Jersey, USA     Luster    Vitreous - Dull     Streak    brownish white

© Lou Perloff / Photo Atlas of Minerals

Barnesite  Color    Brown red, Dark red     Location    Cactus Rat claim, Thompson, Grand County, Utah, USA     Luster    Adamantine     Streak    brownish red

© Thomas Witzke / Abraxas-Verlag

Barnesite  Color    Blood red, Dark red, Purple red     Location    Khaidarkan (Chaidarkan) Sb-Hg deposit, Kyrgyzstan     Luster    Vitreous - Pearly     Streak    orange red

A Mineral, Not a Rock

A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and a specific crystalline structure. A rock is an aggregate of one or more minerals. (A rock may also include organic remains and mineraloids.) Some rocks are predominantly composed of just one mineral. For example, limestone is a sedimentary rock composed almost entirely of the mineral calcite. Other rocks contain many minerals, and the specific minerals in a rock can vary widely. Some minerals, like quartz, mica or feldspar are common, while others have been found in only one or two locations worldwide. The vast majority of the rocks of the Earth's crust consist of quartz, feldspar, mica, chlorite, kaolin, calcite, epidote, olivine, augite, hornblende, magnetite, hematite, limonite and a few other minerals. Over half of the mineral species known are so rare that they have only been found in a handful of samples, and many are known from only one or two small grains.

Commercially valuable minerals and rocks are referred to as industrial minerals. Rocks from which minerals are mined for economic purposes are referred to as ores (the rocks and minerals that remain, after the desired mineral has been separated from the ore, are referred to as tailings).
- Wikipedia: Minerals

Minerals are categorized by their chemical composition, atomic structure and physical properties. The physical properties being:

• Color indicates the appearance of the mineral in reflected light or transmitted light for translucent minerals (i.e. what it looks like to the naked eye).
• Streak refers to the color of the powder a mineral leaves after rubbing it on an unglazed porcelain streak plate. Note that this is not always the same color as the original mineral.
• Lustre indicates the way a mineral's surface interacts with light and can range from dull to glassy (vitreous).
• Other properties: crystal structure and habit, hardness, iridescence (play of colors due to surface or internal interference), cleavage, fracture, specific gravity, fluorescence (response to ultraviolet light), magnetism, radioactivity, tenacity (response to mechanical induced changes of shape or form), piezoelectricity and reactivity to dilute acids.

Sources: Mineral Gallery, Wikipedia: Minerals, Mineralogy Database