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.

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 ...

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 ...

A new origins-based system for classifying minerals reveals the huge geochemical imprint that life has left on Earth. It could help us identify other worlds with life too. The impact of Earth’s ...

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 ...