What is hematite?
Hematite is the ore in iron ore. There is more of it mined every hour than all the gold mined in history.
It is found in black, silver-gray, brown, reddish-brown, or red.
Its name derives from the Greek for blood-red stone.
It has been found to have been used for cave writing as far back as 164,000 years ago!
Hematite has been found in significant quantities on Mars in the form of spherules and because of their round shape were given the name 'blueberries' by the Opportunity rover's scientific team.
It ranges from 5.5 to 6.5 on the Mohs hardness scale.
If you come across 'magnetic hematite', it is a synthetic material called hematine. Hematite has an insignificant magnetic field.