Mineral Naming
Each mineral species is identified by its own appellation, and names have been assigned since antiquity. While there are only some 3000 valid mineral species, nearly 20 000 names occur in the literature. This is partly because researchers working independently have given different names to the same mineral, and partly because distinct names have been applied to minerals that later proved to be varieties or mixtures of already known species. Today a much better control is exercised by the Commission on New Minerals and New Mineral Names established in 1959 by the International Mineralogical Association.