http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavel_Bazhov
The book "The Malachite Casket", written by P. Bazhov, who based his stories on miners' tales from the Ural Mountains. The Urals, on the border between Europe and Asia, is the oldest mountain chain in the former Soviet Union and are famous as a source of precious stones and metals, including gold and copper ores such as malachite. The most famous character from these stories is the Mistress of Copper Mountain, a protector of gems and stones in the Urals, who capriciously bestows the ability to find such treasures only on those who please her.
The Malachite Casket: Tales from the Urals by Pavel Bazhov, which consists of folktales Bazhov heard as boy in the 1890s when the copper smelting industry in the Urals was shutting down. The stories form a cycle of loosely connected tales centering on impoverished miners at the mercy of cruel bailiffs and greedy landlords.
"The Stone Flower" story:
http://russian-crafts.com/tales/stone_flower.html
http://stpetersburg-guide.com/folk/stoneflower.shtml
http://www.lacquerbox.com/stoneflower-long.htm
"Hostess of the Copper Mountain" story:
Tale of the Girl that Jumps from Bon-fire
http://www.russianlacquerboxes.org/tales/ognevushka.html
Tale of the Girl with the Hair of Gold (Zlatovlaska)
"Silver Hoof"
http://russian-crafts.com/tales/silver_hoof.html
http://www.russianlacquerboxes.org/tales/silverhoof.html
- picture
Here Bazhov books in Russian:
http://www.skazka.com.ru/article/bagov/bagov.html
also some other country's tales about minerals:
http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/rrGemstones3.html
http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/diamondstoads/index.html