Long, long ago, hot water percolated through sediments and deposited iron oxide minerals in the form of hematite, a type of iron ore. The hematite above came from Minnesota’s Cuyuna Mountain Range, and I purchased it for my collection from a rock shop in Colorado when I was a child.
The mineral ranges in color from very dark to light brown to blood red, hence the name hematite (derived from the Greek word for blood). When it forms in rounded clumps as seen above, the red varieties can look like kidneys, and so it is sometimes called kidney ore or kidney stone. However, I would much prefer to have this sort of kidney stone than the type of stones that sometimes form in real kidneys.
#hematite #kidneyore #cuyunamountainrange #ironore #kidneystone
Eskildoodle Photos and Feelings 