Native Elements and Metallic Alloys
Note: Since there is a distinction between minerals that are largely composed of a single element and go by the name of the element (such as the mineral Gold and elemental gold), this guide lists the minerals in with an uppercase first letter, and the element with a lowercase first letter.
Any naturally occurring mineral that has a molecular structure of
only one chemical belongs to this group. Examples are Copper, Sulfur, and Diamond. Also
included in this group are metallic (and semi-metallic) alloys, which are minerals
composed only of two or more metallic or semi-metallic elements. Two examples are
Iron-Nickel (Fe,Ni) and Stibarsen (AsSb).
The minerals Gold and Platinum are considered native elements even though they are never
100% pure gold or platinum, containing indefinite traces of other elements, thereby
causing them to be metallic alloys.
This group contains many uncommon minerals, because the conditions for an element to form in an uncombined state is in most cases very rare. Lead as an element is abundant, but hardly ever occurs native. It is most commonly derived from lead sulfide (Galena), lead carbonate (Cerrusite), etc.
The native elements can be divided into three groups: The metals, semi-metals, and nonmetals. Metallic or semi-metallic alloys are grouped together with the metallic or semi-metallic elements:
Metallic Elements - The metal elements have a "metallic" luster, are malleable and ductile, and are good conductors of electricity.
Semi-metallic Elements - The semi-metallic elements have two aspects that the metals have; otherwise they act like non-metals: They are opaque with a metallic luster, and combine with other elements to form minerals (i.e. Arsenides, Tellurides, etc.) the same way metallic elements do.
Nonmetallic Elements - The nonmetallic elements don't exhibit any metallic properties (except for Graphite, which has a metallic luster), are light in weight, and can be transparent.