Rutile — Rutile
Rutile Bergminer, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY SA 4.0

Mineral · Rutile group

Rutile

TiO2

Rutile is titanium dioxide, forming red-brown to black prismatic crystals with adamantine lustre at Graves Mountain (Georgia), the Alps and Brazil, and the golden needles inside 'rutilated quartz'. Rutile epitaxial on hematite from Brazil (Novo Horizonte) makes spectacular star-shaped specimens. It is the commonest of the three TiO2 polymorphs.

FormulaTiO2
IMA statusgrandfathered
Crystal systemTetragonal
Mohs hardness6–6.5
GroupRutile group
Type localityNone
StreakPale brown to yellow
Specific gravity4.25
Reference listIMA List of Minerals (RRUFF) — verify formula and status against the current list

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "Rutile" (Mineral). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/minerals/rutile. Accessed 2026-09-20.

@misc{stratum-rutile,
  title        = {Rutile},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/minerals/rutile}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Mineral article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, wikidata, commons. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
}

Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.

Sources for this article: Stratum editorial (Stratum editorial);Wikidata (CC0);Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-4.0). As of 2026-09-19; Study pack 2026.09. Data reproduced under the licences shown; text in Stratum's own words unless a section names its source.

Found an error? Write to drew@tyr.ac with the article id mineral:rutile.