This month’s featured mineral is flint which is a sub-variety of chalcedony, or microcrystalline quartz.  This specimen is from the prehistoric flint-mining locality of Flint Ridge, Ohio.

Flint was among the first mineral materials to be collected and utilized in Paleolithic times.  Because of its conchoidal fracture, flint was easily worked and flaked into edged and pointed tools, or points for arrows.

As you look at these flint photos, the multicolored specimen, the black colors are caused by elemental carbon from organic sources, while the red, yellow, and brown colors are created by such metal oxides and hydroxides as hematite and goethite.

Modern metaphysical practitioners believe that flint is a stone of power and intensity that connects the spiritual physical realms, helps to ground flighty perceptions in reality, and enhances self-discipline, analytical abilities, emotional stability, and physical intellectual strength.

Size: width 1.75″ x length 2.5″

Locality: Flint Ridge, Ohio