The desire of an increasing number of students for more complete information in regard to modern petrographic-microscopic methods than is to be found in any English work on the subject,has led excellent elementary and intermediate text-books on optical minerralogy,and certain portions of most crystallographies and mineralogies,are devoted to microcopic methods.

Provides an up-to-date introduction to the subject of ore microscopy, emphasizing the basic skills required for the study of opaque minerals in polished sections. Describes the modern ore microscope, the preparation of polished and polished-thin sections of opaque minerals and ores, and the identification of these minerals using both qualitative techniques and the quantitative methods of reflectance and microhardness measurement. Later sections discuss the interpretation of textural intergrowths of ore minerals and the determination of their paragenesis, along with the examination of coexisting minerals for determining their physio-chemical conditions of formation. Appendices contain the data necessary to identify approximately 100 of the more common ore minerals and those frequently encountered by the professional scientist.