Graphite
Species
Common · C
Pure carbon in sheets so weakly bound that they slide over one another, which is why it marks paper and greases a lock. The same element that makes diamond, laid flat instead of braced in three dimensions.
Identity
- Formula
- C
- Chemical class
- Native element
- Also known as
- Plumbago, Black lead
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Hexagonal
- Habits
- Foliated, Massive, Earthy
- Fracture
- Uneven
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 2
- Density
- 2.16 g/cm³
- Luster
- Metallic, Dull
- Colors
- iron black, dark gray, black, steel gray
- Streak
- black
- Transparency
- Opaque
Geology
- Origins
- Metamorphic, Igneous
- Host rocks
- Schist and gneiss, Marble
- Associated minerals
- Calcite, Quartz, Pyrite
- Found in
- Schist
- Geography
- Sri Lanka, Madagascar, China
Classification
- Rarity
- Common
- Gem quality
- No
Sources
- M. Pasero and others, IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification, The New IMA List of Minerals, updated September 2026. International Mineralogical Association (CNMNC), 2026.
- J. W. Anthony, R. A. Bideaux, K. W. Bladh, M. C. Nichols, Graphite. Mineral Data Publishing, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2001.
- Graphite (Natural). U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025, 2025.
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