Rocksday

Realgar

A bright orange-red arsenic sulfide. Toxic, and it slowly crumbles to yellow powder in light.

Realgar specimen
Photo: Robert M. Lavinsky, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify realgar

  • Orange-red with a resinous luster.
  • Very soft.
  • Orange streak; often with yellow orpiment.

Often confused with

Where it's found

  • Getchell mine, Nevada
  • Shimen, Hunan, China
  • Romania
  • Peru

Uses

Historic pigment and fireworks; now collector specimens.

Rock tumbling

Not suitable for tumbling. Toxic (arsenic).

Did you know?

Store it in the dark — light turns realgar into yellow crumbly pararealgar.

Think you could spot it from a blurry close-up?

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