This official IMA-CNMNC list (updated version, March 2009) is compiled in a cooperation between the CNMNC with Ernest H. Nickel and Monte C. Nichols, and is supplied through the courtesy of Materials Data, Inc. Livermore, California, USA.


The IMA list has been derived from the MINERAL Database, authored by Ernest H. Nickel and Monte C. Nichols, and owned by Materials Data, Inc., and was produced expressly for use by the IMA/CNMNC. The full database is available for the cost of production and mailing through Materials Data, Inc.

The IMA list only gives the name and one key reference for each of the about 6500 entries, along with the chemical composition and the Strunz Classification (for valid mineral names). The status of each mineral name is given at the left of each entry in the following categories (also explained at the bottom of each page of the list):
A = Approved by the CNMNC
D = Discredited by the CNMNC
G = Grandfathered: original description preceded the establishment of the CNMNC in 1959, and generally regarded as a valid species
GROUP = a name used to designate a group of species
H = Hypothetical mineral (synthetic, anthropogenic, etc.)
I = Intermediate member of a solid-solution series (e.g., oligoclase, a member in the albite-anorthite series)
N = published without approval of the CNMNC
Q = Questionable
Rd = Redefinition approved by the CNMNC
Rn = Renamed with approval by the CNMNC

For obsolete mineral names not included in this list, consult the compilations by Jeffrey de Fourestier (1999) and Peter Bayliss (2000).

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All rights to the use of the data presented here, either printed or electronic, rest with Materials Data, Inc.