Strunz mineral classification

Nickel–Strunz classification is a scheme for categorizing minerals based upon their chemical composition, introduced by German mineralogist Karl Hugo Strunz (24 February 1910 – 19 April 2006) in his Mineralogische Tabellen (1941). The 4th and the 5th edition was also edited by Christel Tennyson (1966). It was followed by A.S. Povarennykh with a modified classification (1966 in Russian, 1972 in English).

As curator of the Mineralogical Museum of Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (now known as the Humboldt University of Berlin), Strunz had been tasked with sorting the museum's geological collection according to crystal-chemical properties. His book Mineralogical Tables, has been through a number of modifications; the most recent edition, published in 2001, is the ninth (Mineralogical Tables by Hugo Strunz and Ernest H. Nickel (31 August 1925 – 18 July 2009)).James A. Ferraiolo was responsible for it at Mindat.org. The IMA/CNMNC supports the Nickel–Strunz database.

The current scheme divides minerals into ten classes, which are further divided into divisions, families and groups according to chemical composition and crystal structure.

IMA/CNMNC proposes a new hierarchical scheme (Mills et al. 2009), using the Nickel–Strunz classes (10 ed) this gives:

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