Mineral Environments refers to the "geologic environments" in which minerals occur – the types of rocks in which they are found. While some minerals occur in two or more environments, others tend to be restricted to a single environment. If you think you have found the mineral kyanite in a sedimentary sandstone and see that it is a mineral formed by metamorphic processes you’ll know it can’t be kyanite. Try celestite… If you think you have found topaz in a cavity in basalt and read that it is largely restricted to pegmatite you’ll know it isn’t topaz. And so on.

On a smaller scale, environments can vary over the volume of a single deposit. A lode of copper ores may have an oxidized zone (gossan) , a supergene enriched zone, and a deep primary zone. Each zone tends to produce distinct mineral assemblages. And figuring out in which zone a mineral formed leads to learning about mineral associations.

Mineral Environments & Associations