Native element minerals are those elements that occur in nature in uncombined form with a distinct mineral structure. The elemental class includes

metals A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typical ...

, intermetallic compounds,

alloys An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductility, ...

, metalloids, and nonmetals. The Nickel–Strunz classification system also includes the naturally occurring phosphides, silicides, nitrides,

carbide In chemistry, a carbide usually describes a compound composed of carbon and a metal. In metallurgy, carbiding or carburizing is the process for producing carbide coatings on a metal piece. Interstitial / Metallic carbides The carbides of t ...

s, and arsenides.

Elements

The following elements occur as native element minerals or alloys:

Nickel–Strunz Classification -01- Native elements

This list uses the Classification of Nickel–Strunz (

mindat.org Mindat.org is a non-commercial online database, claiming to be the largest mineral database and mineralogical reference website on the Internet. It is used by professional mineralogists, geologists, and amateur mineral collectors alike. The ...

, 10 ed, pending publication). ;Abbreviations: * "*" – discredited (IMA/CNMNC status). * "?" – questionable/doubtful (IMA/CNMNC status). * "REE" – Rare-earth element (Sc, Y, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) * "PGE" – Platinum-group element (Ru, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir, Pt) * 03.C Aluminofluorides, 06 Borates, 08 Vanadates (04.H V^{,6/sup> Vanadates), 09 Silicates:
** Neso: insular (from Greek νησος nēsos, island)
** Soro: grouping (from Greek σωροῦ sōros, heap, mound (especially of corn))
** Cyclo: ring
** Ino: chain (from Greek ις enitive: ινος ''inos'' fibre)
** Phyllo: sheet (from Greek φύλλον ''phyllon'', leaf)
** Tecto: three-dimensional framework

;Nickel–Strunz code scheme: NN.XY.##x:
* NN: Nickel–Strunz mineral class number
* X: Nickel–Strunz mineral division letter
* Y: Nickel–Strunz mineral family letter
* ##x: Nickel–Strunz mineral/group number, x add-on letter

Class: native elements

* 01.A Metals and intermetallic alloys
** 01.AA Copper-cupalite family: 05 native copper, 05 lead

Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, ...
, 05 native gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...
, 05 native silver, 05 nickel

Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow t ...
, 05 aluminium

Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
; 10a auricupride, 10b tetra-auricupride; 15 novodneprite, 15 khatyrkite, 15 anyuiite; 20 cupalite, 25 hunchunite
** 01.AB Zinc-brass family (Cu-Zn alloys): 05 cadmium

Cadmium is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12 element, group 12, zinc and mercury (element), mercury. Li ...
, 05 zinc

Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
, 05 titanium

Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion i ...
*, 05 rhenium*; 10a brass

Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...
*, 10a zhanghengite

Zhanghengite is a mineral consisting of 80% copper and zinc, 10% iron with the balance made up of chromium and aluminium. Its color is golden yellow. It was discovered in 1986 during the analysis of the Bo Xian meteorite and is named after Zhang ...
, 10b danbaite, 10b tongxinite*
** 01.AC Indium-tin family: 05 indium, 10 tin; 15 yuanjiangite, 15 sorosite
** 01.AD Mercury-amalgam family: 00 amalgam

Amalgam most commonly refers to:
* Amalgam (chemistry), mercury alloy
* Amalgam (dentistry), material of silver tooth fillings
** Bonded amalgam, used in dentistry

Amalgam may also refer to:

* Amalgam Comics, a publisher
* Amalgam Digital, an in ...
*, 05 mercury; 10 belendorffite, 10 kolymite; 15a paraschachnerite, 15a schachnerite, 15b luanheite, 15c eugenite, 15d moschellandsbergite

Moschellandsbergite is a rare isometric mineral made up of a silver-white amalgam of mercury and silver with the chemical makeup Ag2Hg3.

It was first described in 1938 and named after Moschellandsberg Mountain near Obermoschel, Rhineland-Palati ...
; 20a weishanite, 20b goldamalgam*; 25 potarite, 30 leadamalgam
** 01.AE Iron-chromium family: 05 kamacite? (iron var.), 05 iron

Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...
, 05 chromium

Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal.

Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hard ...
; 10 antitaenite Antitaenite is a meteoritic metal alloy mineral composed of iron (Fe) and 20–40% nickel (Ni), (and traces of other elements) that has a face centered cubic crystal structure.

There are three known Fe-Ni meteoritic minerals: kamacite, taenite, ...
*, 10 taenite

Taenite is a mineral found naturally on Earth mostly in iron meteorites. It is an alloy of iron and nickel, with a chemical formula of and nickel proportions of 20% up to 65%.

The name is derived from the Greek ταινία for "band, ribbon" ...
, 10 tetrataenite; 15 chromferide, 15 wairauite, 15 ferchromide; 20 awaruite, 25 jedwabite
** 01.AF Platinum-group elements: 05 osmium

Osmium (from Greek grc, ὀσμή, osme, smell, label=none) is a chemical element with the symbol Os and atomic number 76. It is a hard, brittle, bluish-white transition metal in the platinum group that is found as a trace element in alloys, ...
, 05 rutheniridosmine, 05 ruthenium; 10 palladium

Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself ...
, 10 iridium

Iridium is a chemical element with the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, it is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density o ...
, 10 rhodium

Rhodium is a chemical element with the symbol Rh and atomic number 45. It is a very rare, silvery-white, hard, corrosion-resistant transition metal. It is a noble metal and a member of the platinum group. It has only one naturally occurring i ...
, 10 platinum

Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver".

Pla ...

** 01.AG PGE-metal alloys: 05 garutiite, 05 hexaferrum

Hexaferrum and epsilon iron (ε-Fe) are synonyms for the hexagonal close-packed (HCP) phase of iron that is stable only at extremely high pressure.

A 1964 study at the University of Rochester mixed 99.8% pure α-iron powder with sodium chlor ...
; 10 atokite, 10 zvyagintsevite, 10 rustenburgite; 15 taimyrite, 15 tatyanaite; 20 paolovite; 25 plumbopalladinite, 25 stannopalladinite; 30 cabriite; 35 chengdeite, 35 isoferroplatinum; 40 ferronickelplatinum, 40 tetraferroplatinum, 40 tulameenite; 45 hongshiite*, 45 skaergaardite; 50 yixunite, 55 damiaoite, 60 niggliite, 65 bortnikovite, 70 nielsenite
* 01.B Metallic carbides, silicides, nitrides and phosphides
** 01.BA Carbides: 05 cohenite; 10 isovite, 10 haxonite

Haxonite is an iron nickel carbide mineral found in iron meteorites and carbonaceous chondrites. It has a chemical formula of , crystallises in the cubic crystal system and has a Mohs hardness of - 6.

It was first described in 1971, and named a ...
; 15 tongbaite

Tongbaite is a rare mineral that has the chemical formula Cr3C2, or chromium carbide.

It was first described in 1983 for an occurrence in Liu village, Tongbai County (桐柏县), Henan Province, China and named for the locality. It occurs in an ...
; 20 khamrabaevite

Titanium carbide, Ti C, is an extremely hard ( Mohs 9–9.5) refractory ceramic material, similar to tungsten carbide. It has the appearance of black powder with the sodium chloride ( face-centered cubic) crystal structure.

It occurs in na ...
, 20 niobocarbide, 20 tantalcarbide; 25 qusongite, 30 yarlongite
** 01.BB Silicides: zangboite; 05 mavlyanovite, 05 suessite

Suessite is a rare iron silicide mineral with chemical formula: Fe3Si. The mineral was named after Professor Hans E. Suess. It was discovered in 1982 during the chemical analysis of The North Haig olivine pigeonite achondrite ( ureilite). It is ...
; 10 perryite, 15 fersilicite*, 20 ferdisilicite*, 25 luobusaite, 30 gupeiite, 35 hapkeite, 40 xifengite

Xifengite ( Fe5 Si3) is a rare metallic iron silicide mineral. The crystal system of xifengite is hexagonal. It has a specific gravity of 6.45 and a Mohs hardness of 5.5. It occurs as steel gray inclusions within other meteorite derived nicke ...

** 01.BC Nitrides: 05 roaldite, 10 siderazot, 15 carlsbergite

Carlsbergite is a nitride mineral that has the chemical formula CrN, or chromium nitride.

It is named after the Carlsberg Foundation which backed the recovery of the Agpalilik fragment of the Cape York meteorite in which the mineral was first d ...
, 15 osbornite
** 01.BD Phosphides: 05 schreibersite

Schreibersite is generally a rare iron nickel phosphide mineral, , though common in iron-nickel meteorites. It has been found on Disko Island in Greenland and Illinois.

Another name used for the mineral is rhabdite. It forms tetragonal cr ...
, 05 nickelphosphide; 10 barringerite, 10 monipite; 15 allabogdanite, 15 florenskyite, 15 andreyivanovite; 20 melliniite
* 01.C Metalloids and nonmetals
** 01.CA Arsenic group elements: 05 bismuth

Bismuth is a chemical element with the symbol Bi and atomic number 83. It is a post-transition metal and one of the pnictogens, with chemical properties resembling its lighter group 15 siblings arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth occurs ...
, 05 antimony

Antimony is a chemical element with the symbol Sb (from la, stibium) and atomic number 51. A lustrous gray metalloid, it is found in nature mainly as the sulfide mineral stibnite (Sb2S3). Antimony compounds have been known since ancient ti ...
, 05 arsenic

Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, b ...
, 05 stibarsen; 10 arsenolamprite, 10 pararsenolamprite; 15 paradocrasite
** 01.CB Carbon-silicon family: 05a graphite

Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on la ...
, 05b chaoite

Chaoite, or white carbon, is a mineral described as an allotrope of carbon whose existence is disputed. It was discovered in shock-fused graphite gneiss from the Ries crater in Bavaria. It has been described as slightly harder than graphite, with ...
, 05c fullerite; 10a diamond

Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...
, 10b lonsdaleite, 15 silicon

Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si and atomic number 14. It is a hard, brittle crystalline solid with a blue-grey metallic luster, and is a tetravalent metalloid and semiconductor. It is a member of group 14 in the periodic ...

** 01.CC Sulfur-selenium-iodine: 05 sulfur

Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...
, 05 rosickyite; 10 tellurium

Tellurium is a chemical element with the symbol Te and atomic number 52. It is a brittle, mildly toxic, rare, silver-white metalloid. Tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur, all three of which are chalcogens. It is occasionall ...
, 10 selenium
* 01.D Nonmetallic carbides and nitrides
** 01.DA Nonmetallic carbides: 05 moissanite
** 01.DB Nonmetallic nitrides: 05 nierite, 10 sinoite
* 01.X Unclassified Strunz elements (metals and intermetallic alloys; metalloids and nonmetals; carbides, silicides, nitrides, phosphides)
** 01.XX Unknown: 00 hexamolybdenum, 00 tantalum

Tantalum is a chemical element with the symbol Ta and atomic number 73. Previously known as ''tantalium'', it is named after Tantalus, a villain in Greek mythology. Tantalum is a very hard, ductile, lustrous, blue-gray transition metal that ...
*, 00 brownleeite

See also

*Free element

In chemistry, a free element is a chemical element that is not combined with or chemically bonded to other elements. Examples of elements which can occur as free elements include the oxygen molecule (O) and carbon.A. Earnshaw and Norman Greenwood ...

*Gangue

In mining, gangue () is the commercially worthless material that surrounds, or is closely mixed with, a wanted mineral in an ore deposit. It is thus distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or materials overlying an ore or mineral body ...

*Native metal

A native metal is any metal that is found pure in its metallic form in nature. Metals that can be found as native deposits singly or in alloys include aluminium, antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, indium, iron, manganese, m ...

*Native state

In biochemistry, the native state of a protein or nucleic acid is its properly folded and/or assembled form, which is operative and functional. The native state of a biomolecule may possess all four levels of biomolecular structure, with the ...

References

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*
*

Mineralsystematik nach Strunz 9. Auflage von 2001 (aktuell)
* Hr. Dr. Udo Neumann der Uni-Tuebingen

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Classification of minerals}