Wikipedia.  Always a good place to start but anyone can add information and what you see cannot always be believed. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral

The Rock Collector.  A very professional looking site with a database of rocks and minerals.  Also includes a monthly editorial with interesting articles.  

http://www.rockcollector.co.uk

Teeda.  A commercial website in the USA but, for a good, simple introduction to rocks and minerals do take a look.  If you plan to get into the hobby of lapidary it also gives you a few clues as to what you'll be getting into.  

http://www.teeda.com/rocks-and-minerals.html

Mindat.org claims to be the largest mineral database and mineralogical reference website on the internet.  Includes reports from the major mineral shows.

http://www.mindat.org/

Agates with Inclusions.  More agates, but this time a personal web site from the USA.

http://www.agateswithinclusions.com/

More about agates and geodes.   An educational website from Maryville University describing, amongst other things, how agates are formed. Thanks to Chris and his mother Jenny in Portland, Oregon for this link

https://online.maryville.edu/education-degrees/guide-to-geodes/

Internet Craft Fair.  Amongst other things this is an index of suppliers for many hobbies.  They were kind enough to include a link to my web page, so they must be nice people.  

http://www.craft-fair.co.uk

Rockhounding Arkansas.  This web site has now been expanded to include a lot of information local to Arkansas but the section on quartz still tells all that you're ever likely to need to know.  Select the "Rocks and Minerals" tab and you'll find not only the quartz section but an introduction to geology.

http://www.rockhoundingar.com/index.php

Agates from Hungary.  Another site containing photographs and information about agates and, as this is my favourite type of rock, I make no apologies.  Also includes photographs of the author's mineral collection and links to more sites.

http://www.mineraltivadar.hu

Dwarves Earth Treasures.  An online museum  of a personal agate collection with a page to help identify agates from the USA plus links to other sites.

http://www.sailorenergy.net/Minerals/MineralMain.html

RocksForKids.  Although much of the content of this site is centred around Ontario, Canada, it does contain a lot of information that would be of interest to children who want to learn about rocks and minerals.  When you click on the link you'll probably get a window asking for your Username and Password.  Click on Cancel and it will probably let you in anyway.

http://www.rocksforkids.com/

UKGE Ltd.  A UK supplier with a reasonable range of tumblers and accessories, rock hammers, jewellery findings, books, DVDs and more.  There's also a children's section.  Fortunately for me they don't supply rough rock other than for tumbling.

http://www.ukge.com

How to make a cabochon.   From the web site of Old Pueblo Lapidary Club, Tucson, Arizona, USA. 

http://www.rockhounds.com/rockshop/oplc_cab.shtml

Rock Tumbling Hobby.  You should be able to find almost everything that you need to know about tumbling from this site, though you might need to search for it.  The "tumbling enthusiasts forum" appears to be the best place to start.

http://www.rocktumblinghobby.com

Startlocal.   A brief "Guide to Rocks and Minerals" with links to many more pages, some with great photographs. However, not all the links work, but worth a look anyway.

http://www.startlocal.com.au/articles/educational_rocks.html  

A Guide to Oil Shale, Coal, and Other Sedimentary Rocks.  This page, suggested by Amy and Ms Deborah Ward of Delaware as part of their research into the subject of Earth Science Resources, explains how many of our sedimentary rocks are formed.  Each section includes links to other sites that offer additional information.  

http://bakken.com/guide-oil-shale-coal-sedimentary-rocks

Ultimate Beginners Guide to Rock Tumbling.  A fairly comprehensive introductory guide to tumbling stones that provides answers to many of the questions that someone starting out would like to ask.

https://www.smarterhobby.com/rock-tumbling/

Geology Online: 105 Websites That Rock.  A site dedicated to Geology education and resources and containing a great deal of information.  It's likely to be a bit technical for many of us but makes a great reference source.

http://geologydegree.org/sites-that-rock/

How Diamonds Are Made and Formed.  A nicely written article on the formation of diamonds. With animated graphics.

https://www.beyond4cs.com/how-are-diamonds-made-and-formed/

Rock Collecting: An Educational Home Hobby.  Not a particularly well organised web page but with some useful links explaining the formation of various rock types.  With thanks to Paige for this input.

https://www.improvenet.com/a/rock-collecting-an-educational-home-hobby

Last Update 4 June 20