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John Betts - Fine Minerals
Classic minerals, out-of-print books & magazines, plus informative articles for collectors

What is a Mineral?

The following definitions on what constitutes a mineral were taken from several different sources and are arranged by year:

• "A mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and that has been formed as a result of geological processes" (Nickel, E. H., 1995).
   
• "Minerals are naturally-occurring inorganic substances with a definite and predictable chemical composition and physical properties." (O' Donoghue, 1990).
   
• "A mineral is a naturally occurring homogeneous solid, inorganically formed, with a definite chemical composition and an ordered atomic arrangement" (Mason, et al, 1968).
   
• "These... minerals ...can be distinguished from one another by individual characteristics that arise directly from the kinds of atoms they contain and the arrangements these atoms make inside them" (Sinkankas, 1966).
   
• "A mineral is a body produced by the processes of inorganic nature, having usually a definite chemical composition and, if formed under favorable conditions, a certain characteristic atomic structure which is expressed in its crystalline form and other physical properties" (Dana & Ford, 1932).
   
• "Every distinct chemical compound occurring in inorganic nature, having a definite molecular structure or system of crystallization and well-defined physical properties, constitutes a mineral species" (Brush & Penfield, 1898).

See the IMA Commission On New Minerals And Mineral Names: Procedures and Guidelines on Mineral Nomenclature(1998) for a technical discussion on "what is a mineral."