Having been transformed from one mineral to another through the process of alteration.

(adj) changed in form or character without becoming something else(adj) having testicles or ovaries removed(adj) changed in order to improve or made more fit for a particular purpose

an item which is recognizable in one form, which may have been changed or transformed into another form.  Examples: adding a ribbon to a pinback button for which the ribbon was not originally attached [..]

A term used on this site to describe a protein or gene that is somehow different from the most frequently occurring form (e.g., altered huntingtin protein, altered Huntington gene). An altered protein [..]