An easy-to-use program for the determination of common opaque minerals

A Microsoft Excel macro is described that enables rapid recognition of common opaque minerals. The program uses ore mineralogical features such as reflectance, anisotropy, bireflectance, Vickers Hardness and morphological features (bladed crystals, zoning and twinning) to identify possible candidates from a database of 200 common ore minerals. Reflectance can be estimated from the uncorrected light of a microscope lamp. While the program yields all possible minerals matching the entered search criteria, these must be distinguished by additional information such as paragenesis, and detailed checks of observed features with data listed in reference works. The program is especially suited for students of ore microscopy and for mineralogists and petrologists who are not experts in ore microscopy.