Native Elements

Native elements are minerals formed from a single chemical element, without any association with other elements. Most of these pure elements are rare; they are therefore few in number (of the order of 80 species). We distinguish the native elements with a strong metallic brilliance and a high density (gold, silver, copper, platinum, iron, mercury, lead), the semi-metals whose brilliance is variable and which are characterized by a high density (antimony, arsenic, bismuth, tellurium), and non-metals that are sparse and fragile (sulphur, carbon). They represent 3-4% of the mineral species. The most representative minerals are: Gold, Silver, Bismuth, Arsenic, Copper, Diamond, Sulfur and Platinum.