Alabama State Rock, Mineral, & Gemstone . Alabama enjoys a diverse and widespread variety of minerals, with more than 190 mineral species occurring in the state. From the earliest of civilization minerals here were of great value when flint, mica, clay, and other rocks and minerals were used by Native Americans to survive. The state's rich stores of iron-bearing hematite provided the raw materials for Birmingham 's rise as an industrial center in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In the latter half of the twentieth century Alabama was in the top 20 among the states that produced in value amount, of minerals produced in the United States. Th estate Mineral is Hematite, the state stone is Marble, and the state gemstone is Star Blue Quartz. (A link near the bottom of the page for a Alabama Rockhounding guide) Geology Much of the state is covered with sedimentary rocks, with exposures of igneous and metamorphic rocks being located to th...
Rocks, Gems, Minerals and Lapidary !