CLASSIFICATION OF

MINERALS
Earth and Life Science
 MINERALS

• It is a naturally occurring chemical compound that occurs

naturally in its pure form (organic solid form)
• It has an ordered crystalline structure
 CLASSIFICATION OF MINERALS
• Silicate Minerals
• Oxide Minerals
• Carbonate Minerals
• Phosphate Minerals
 SILICATE MINERALS
• Largest and most important mineral class
• Approximately makes up of 90 percent of the Earth’s Crust
• Created when molten rock matter containing oxygen and
silicon cools and solidifies, causing the crystallization of
different minerals at successively lower temperatures and
pressures
• Example: Quartz
 OXIDE MINERALS

• Any naturally occurring inorganic compound with a structure

based on close-packed oxygen atoms in which smaller,
positively charged metal or other ions occur in interstices.
• Example: Corundum (Ruby and Sapphire), Chromite,
Magnetite
 CARBONATE MINERALS
• Any minerals that tend to be brittle, many have rhombohedral
cleavage, and all react with acid.
• Most often formed as biogenic or chemical sediments in
marine environments.
• Example: Calcite, Magnesite and Dolomite
 PHOSPHATE MINERALS
• Any of a group of naturally occurring inorganic salts of
phosphoric acid, H3(PO4).
• The main crystalline constituents of teeth and bones in
vertebrates.
• Examples: Iazulite, Triphylite, Monazite, Erythrite