Rutile
Species
Common · TiO₂
Titanium oxide occurring as needle-like crystals included in quartz, corundum, and other minerals, producing asterism and chatoyancy effects. With ilmenite, which is mined in far larger amounts, it is an ore of titanium, most of it turned into white titanium dioxide pigment.
Identity
- Formula
- TiO₂
- Chemical class
- Oxide
- Mineral group
- Cassiterite, Pyrolusite
- Also known as
- Titanium oxide, Sagenite (acicular inclusions in quartz)
- Ore of
- Titanium
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Tetragonal
- Habits
- Prismatic, Acicular, Massive
- Fracture
- Subconchoidal
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 6.5
- Density
- 4.25 g/cm³
- Luster
- Adamantine, Submetallic
- Colors
- red, reddish brown, black, pale yellow, violet
- Streak
- light brown
- Transparency
- Transparent, Translucent, Opaque
Geology
- Origins
- Igneous, Metamorphic, Sedimentary
- Host rocks
- Granite, Schist and gneiss, River gravels and sands
- Associated minerals
- Quartz, Ilmenite, Hematite, anatase
- Found in
- Placer deposit
- Geography
- worldwide
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, Rutile. Mineral Data Publishing, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2001.
- Titanium Mineral Concentrates. U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025, 2025.
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