Abstract
The principle of an unlimited number of mineral species (NMS) is stated. Its scope includes unique types of rocks and ores with their structurally and compositionally complex minerals, in particular nanometersized ones. The unlimited NMS is determined not so much by the vast number of possible combinations of chemical elements as by the infinite multiplicity of structural forms of these combinations, and is associated not so much with the macro- as with the micro-world of minerals, which is still in the early stages of investigation. The number of IMA-approved mineral species is currently about 4300. Predictions for the next few decades suggest that their number will increase to 5000 by 2020 and to 10000–11000 by 2050.
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