would an gemstone be considered as an ore?
342287
no, an ore is the mineral source of metals.
610509
If you've put this question in "Investing", then it is worth nothing.  Gemstones of poor quality (ie. poor color, clarity and /or cut) are not worth your investment unless they have something special about them - ie. they are extremely rare or they have a unique or special inclusion etc.\n\nYou haven't elaborated why you think your stone is of "poor condition" so it's difficult to say how much its monetary worth might be.  It depends largely on color, clarity and cut.  \n\nAssess your stone by asking yourself these questions:\nIs it a pure red? Pinkish-red? Orangy-red? Or does the red have undesirable brown modifiers? Is it transparent? Is it translucent or opaque?  Are there visible inclusions? Are they distracting? Do they affect the stones aesthetics and/or durability? Is it cut well? Is the stone cut too deep or too shallow?  Is it balanced? \n\nStones that are pure red, transparent, eye clean & well cut will fetch the highest market prices.  Stones with poor color that are opaque, included and poorly finished will not be worth very much.\n\nSend me an IM with an url to a photo and I'll try to help
821377
It is interesting that the term "semi-precious" is no longer accepted for use by the international jewellery trade organizations with good reason. For example under the old system alexandrite is semi-precious and yet prices can reach $50,000 per carat and more, the same with tourmaline where Paraiba material can reach $20,000 per carat and so on with a whole list of other examples, hardly what one would call SEMI-precious. To answer your question, yes turquoise is a precious stone.
744250
Several.  I have a few pieces of Amber that I love, a few China Red Quartz, and Aventurine are my favorites.  Amber helps me to feel centered and true, Red Quartz is a wonderful stone to use for directing energy and Aventurine is my "lucky" stone--everything seems to go right when it's around.  I don't feel that gems hold special powers but rather they are tools to attune to those powers or direct them.\n\nMy favorite book on the subject is "Love is in the Earth: A Kaleidoscope of Crystals" by Melody
87628
Gold is not naturally white so I would assume it is false unless coming from a very reputable jeweler.
567188
Wow it is scary reading some of these answers... Take it to a reputable jeweler in your town and they will test it using  a touchstone and several different types of nitric acid to test. If this is done wrong you could ruin your piece of jewelry.... fire is certainly not your answer... gold meltsssssssssssss..most jewelers and I mean jewelers can tell just by looking, though sometimes even they need to test a piece...
956412
Ruby is not a mineral in its own right, it is a variety of the mineral CORUNDUM. Ruby is the name given to corundum (aluminum oxide) which is coloured red by having small amounts of chromium as an impurity (blue sapphire is corundum with iron and titanium). Ruby is found in many areas around the world but only in small ammounts. Ruby good enough to cut into gemstones is VERY rare. So rare in fact that the price the prices per carat of fine rubies are the highest of all gemstones including diamonds.
662599
Question 1:\n\nPegmatites are rocks containing valuable mineral deposits such as quartz, feldspar, & mica. Gemstones are often associated w/ pegmatite deposits.\n\nQuartz is an important mineral in making glass & semiconductors/microchips as well as gemstones.\n\nFeldspar is used industrially in the glass-making process, in ceramics, & as gemstones (moonstone, etc.).\n\nMica is used in everything from paints to makeup. Anything w/ a sparkle. In the old days before glass became affordable, people used sheets of mica as windows on homes & in the doors of furnaces.\n\nThe link below gives a little insight into pegmatites & some history of mining in the United States.\n\nQuestion 2:\n\nHigher water content lowers the viscosity of magma (makes it less thick). This is b/c it disrupts the bonds between silicon & oxygen in the magma.
201162
They are natural gemstones. No, they are not colored. Polishing is what brings out the "fire".
1167093
Fool's gold has a minute value as a iron ore and possibly for the sulfur. Other than that the pyrite (fool's gold) isn't worth a thing in individual amounts.
1001175
How to answer this?  I actually have several books entirely on how gems are faked or modified and the con census is that it can be difficult at best.  To find out what sort of stones you are likely to find in any given area do a general search on the geology of it and the surrounding countries.  If you are lucky he might find some Persian Spider Web Turquoise from Iran (though the mines are supposed to be played out now) as you should figure in the trade routes between the other countries as well.  I know the area is copper rich so turquoise and malachite almost certainly.  Try doing a search on "GEMS OF AFGHANISTAN".  From there you can refine your search parameters and add in secondary searches of fake and altered stone.  By the way, fake and altered are not the same as many gems can be treated by heat, radiation and other methods to improve the quality.  They are still the same type of gem just a better grade than they started out as.
198982
hardness, luster, clevage, composition, crystal structure\n\niron is useful also in the mineral gypsum they use it to make drywall\n\nmost gems are valueable because they form extremely slow making them rare, they are also the very hardest type of mineral
891914
Gem stones and crystals come in very many forms, with names ranging from Achroite to Zoisite.  The site below should give you an idea as to how many there are:
404441
It depents on the gem, of course.  Most of the ones people think of as gems, such as diamonds, sapphires &c., form as high-temperature, high-pressure phases in deep molten rock.  They don't necessarily take a long time to crystallize either.  These phases aren't stable in cooler melts, though,  so the problem is to quickly get them to the surface from their formation depths.  Some volcanic eruptions do this.  Diamonds have to come all the way from the mantle to near the surface in minutes.\n\nOther gems can form near or at the surface.  Opal, for instance, is formed by precipitation of silica from groundwater.
519971
depends on the mineral
716416
the typical color is a beautiful,hue known,in fact,as emerald  green and its due to traces of chromium in the crystal structure\nbut they can be light or dark green,bright green or leaf green.The\nvitreous luster its not outstanding,and is strongest in medium-light stones with few inclusions.ALL emerald contain inclusions,\nalthough in THE BEST quality stones,these are very faint and not visible to the naked eye.They show up under a 10x,20x or 40x lens.\nthe most common shape for gems is the STEP or TRAP CUT,which is also known as the EMERALD CUT.\nBy the way Colombia is the number one source of high quality emeralds (Chivor and Muzo mines)the biggest and most beautiful emeralds come from this mines.\n about the value ,stones of fine color,weighing more than 2 carats\nare among the most highly valued gemstones,and their price \nmay equal or exceed that of diamonds.less ideally colored varieties--TOO DARK OR TOO PALE--are worth quite a lot less;\nand if they are slightly turbid as well,the value is reduced even further
787407
Yep, definitely cleavage (lol and you can describe how many directions the cleavage is in and whether it's 'perfect cleavage'... a great opportunity for geokes..)\n\nHardness is the resistance of the surface of the mineral to scratching, it's dependent on the crystal structure of the mineral, and usually expressed on 'Moh's Hardness Scale' - as a number from one to ten, one being lowest (talc, where talcum powder comes from, has a hardness of 1; diamond has a hardness of 10)\n\nThe streak is the colour of the mineral when powdered (it is useful in identifying minerals as it is a more constant property than colour - the slightest difference in trace element chemistry might have a huge effect on colour, hence all the diff varieties of quartz...). Streak is usually found by scratching the mineral along an unglazed piece of porcelain.\n\nFracture is the way a mineral breaks when it doesn't break along a plane (flat surface).