Heavy minerals (minerals with a density greater than 2.89 g/cm3) have highly variable stabilities with respect to transport/weathering but the combined effects of chemical weathering, transport and diagenesis (and overall maturity) tend to decrease their percentage in the whole rock. Therefore, the average heavy mineral yield in sandstones is about 1% but can be a lot lower in old/recycled sandstones. The individual properties of heavy minerals being very different from one another and their relative abundance being a direct proxy of the nature of the source terranes and transport/recycling mechanism, heavy minerals have been used since the 19th century as a provenance tool.