section_path: Definitions/International Mineralogical Association
section_name: International Mineralogical Association
paragraph_text: International Mineralogical Association
  
  The International Mineralogical Association has established the following requirements for a substance to be considered a distinct mineral:
  
  The details of these rules are somewhat controversial. For instance, there have been several recent proposals to classify amorphous substances as minerals, but they have not been accepted by the IMA.
  
  The IMA is also reluctant to accept minerals that occur naturally only in the form of nanoparticles a few hundred atoms across, but has not defined a minimum crystal size.
  
  Some authors require the material to be a stable or metastable solid at room temperature (25 °C). However, the IMA only requires that the substance be stable enough for its structure and composition to be well-determined. For example, it has recently recognized meridianiite (a naturally occurring hydrate of magnesium sulfate) as a mineral, even though it is formed and stable only below 2 °C.
  
  As of July 2024, 6,062 mineral species are approved by the IMA. They are most commonly named after a person, followed by discovery location; names based on chemical composition or physical properties are the two other major groups of mineral name etymologies. Most names end in "-ite"; the exceptions are usually names that were well-established before the organization of mineralogy as a discipline, for example galena and diamond.