Minerals are geologic time capsules of the environments in which they form. With the right approach, their mysteries can be cracked open to reveal key features of the ancient Earth or other planets.

A system of categorization that reflects not just a mineral's chemistry and crystalline structure, but also the physical, chemical, or biological processes by which it formed, would be capable of ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. David Bressan is a geologist who covers curiosities about Earth. A 15-year study led by the Carnegie Institution for Science ...

The government has declared Cobalt, Tantalum, Lithium, Coltan, Niobium, Copper and other rare earths as strategic minerals amidst an economic boom in the local and global mining sectors. In a Gazette ...

A 15-year study details the origins and diversity of every known mineral on Earth, a landmark body of work that will help reconstruct the history of life on Earth, guide the search for new minerals ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., has signed on as a co-sponsor of the Critical Minerals Classification Improvement Act. "Wyoming is home to the largest reserves of uranium in the ...

Minerals are physical objects, rooted in time and formed through complex planetary processes. So why don’t scientists classify them that way? A philosopher and two Earth scientists recently asked that ...

Washington, DC--The first minerals to form in the universe were nanocrystalline diamonds, which condensed from gases ejected when the first generation of stars exploded. Diamonds that crystallize ...