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A pearl is created by the oyster, a perfectly natural process and has been so since long before pearls were cultured. The oyster is trying to encapsulate an irritant, either a parasitic intruder (in the case of natural pearls, or a mother-of-pearl sphere inserted into the oyster's gonad (in the case of cultured pearls). The oyster 'cultures' the pearl by surrounding the irritant with CaCO3- heavy seawater until the calcium carbonate (limestone, chalk and seashell) condenses on it. If you have a wealthy Chemistry department, you can tease apart the regularly formed crystalline structure of the layers of calcium carbonate, or, to a jeweller, 'nacre'. The heart of a saltwater cultured pearl is a mother-of-pearl bead, but the deposit is completely regular layered scales of calcium carbonate. Therefore, yes, a pearl is most definitely a mineral, and also a semi-precious stone.

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A pearl might have a mineral at it's heart, but the outside of a pearl is a hardened substance called nacre that the mollusk secretes around a parasite that invades the mantle tissue.

Pearl is made of calcium carbonate with organic material (nacre) and water.

A pearl is not mineral. The five characteristics a mineral must have is that it must be solid, it has to have a chemical composition, it has to be inorganic, and it has to be naturally made, also it has to have a definite crystalline structure. The pearl contains chemicals within it so it has a chemical composition. It is inorganic of course (it isn't made of any remains or organic substances). It is not naturally made, however, making it not a mineral. Another reason it isn't a mineral is because of its shape. Minerals must have a definite crystalline structure, but a pearl is round, marking off the structure it must have to qualify to be a mineral. It also is quite obviously solid.

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13y ago

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