Biomineralization Mechanisms

Acanthite is the monoclinic silver sulfide mineral Ag2S, listed as grandfathered with original-description year 1855 in the September 2026 IMA master list. It is distinct from elemental silver, generic silver-containing nanoparticles and the high-temperature cubic Ag2S form commonly called argentite. A laboratory bacterial study identifies acanthite as a minority particle type within a mixed silver-containing population. No criticality designation is inherited from silver.

• Stutzerimonas stutzeri

A rare-earth-bearing processing liquor generated from allanite ore, represented here by the chemically purified and reconstituted Halleck Creek, Wyoming feed used by Lu et al. (2026). Acid leaching, impurity precipitation, REE hydroxide precipitation and hydrochloric-acid redissolution precede the biological-reagent experiment. This processing intermediate is distinct from geological ore, beneficiated allanite concentrate, a pure allanite species and an isolated REE product. Its classification reflects chemical processing, not extraction alone. No criticality designation is inherited from its constituents.

• Pichia kudriavzevii

Ammoniojarosite is the ammonium ferric hydroxysulfate mineral with ideal formula (NH4)Fe3(SO4)2(OH)6, with ferric iron. The September 2026 IMA list records it as redefined, 1987 s.p. It is distinct from potassium jarosite, natrojarosite, hydroniumjarosite and industrial jarosite residues. Wang et al. (2007) prepared diffraction-assigned ammoniojarosite during biological oxidation of ferrous sulfate in ammonium-containing laboratory media. Their products were nonstoichiometric, and low-ammonium experiments instead produced schwertmannite or mixed precipitates. Neither phase assignment nor bulk composition establishes absolute phase purity, a recovered-metal yield, microbial necessity or industrial deployment. No constituent-element criticality is inherited.

• Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans
• Sulfuracidifex metallicus

Anglesite is the Pb(SO4) mineral species listed with grandfathered status G and original-description year 1832 in the September 2026 IMA compilation. It is distinct from elemental lead, galena, dissolved lead and a mixed lead-bearing concentrate or battery paste. The observation below concerns a laboratory reaction product identified in leached galena-concentrate residues. It does not establish the identity of every lead-sulfate reagent or inherit a criticality designation from lead.

• Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

Orthorhombic calcium carbonate mineral with ideal formula CaCO3, distinct from calcite and vaterite polymorphs, hydrated monohydrocalcite, the calcium element and carbonate-bearing resources. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1791, not a new-mineral approval accession. Laboratory bacterial mineralization supports aragonite formation under specified solution conditions; it does not establish a criticality designation, a purified critical-metal product or industrial use.

• Bacillus licheniformis

Atacamite is the orthorhombic copper hydroxychloride mineral Cu2Cl(OH)3. It is distinct from elemental copper, other copper minerals and mixed corrosion patinas. The laboratory mineral experiment below used a synthetic preparation. No criticality designation is inherited from copper.

• Beauveria bassiana

Azurite is the monoclinic copper hydroxycarbonate mineral Cu3(CO3)2(OH)2, distinct from malachite, calcite, generic copper carbonate and elemental copper. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status G and original-description year 1824. A laboratory bacterial study assigns a minor diffraction feature in a mixed precipitate to azurite; this does not establish a pure azurite product or a phase-specific copper recovery yield. No criticality designation is inherited from copper.

• Sporosarcina soli

Barićite is a hydrated magnesium phosphate mineral species. The September 2026 IMA list gives the approved formula Mg3(PO4)2(H2O)8 and approval number 1975-027. It remains distinct from bobierrite, elemental magnesium or phosphorus, and mixed recovered precipitates. The historical experimental source uses baricite and a mixed (Mg,Fe) formula; its phase assignment is retained as reported, not a measurement proving the current ideal composition. No criticality designation is inherited from constituents.

• Oleidesulfovibrio alaskensis G20

Bassanite is the grandfathered calcium sulfate hemihydrate mineral, Ca(SO4)·0.5H2O, distinct from gypsum, anhydrite, manufactured plaster specifications and mixed sulfate residues. Natural mineral identity is established separately from laboratory phase assignments. The evidence here concerns mixed precipitates obtained with extracted bacterial extracellular polymers or from saline bacterial cultures. It establishes neither an isolated bassanite product yield nor an industrial recovery process.

Birnessite is a layered manganese oxide mineral, listed as grandfathered in the September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list with formula (Na,Ca,K)0.6(Mn4+,Mn3+)2O4(H2O)1.5. Its composition and polytype vary. It is distinct from elemental manganese, mixed manganese ore and nodules, the buserite precursor used to prepare some synthetic analogues, and manganese oxalate products. The mechanisms below concern separately prepared synthetic sodium and cobalt-bearing forms, and a source-assigned poorly crystalline biogenic Mn-oxide/fungal composite. They do not establish behavior for natural ore or every birnessite polytype. No criticality designation is inherited from manganese.

• Aspergillus niger
• Serpula himantioides
• Paraconiothyrium sp. WL-2

Bixbyite-(Mn) is the Mn(III)-dominant member of the bixbyite series, with ideal formula Mn2O3 under IMA-CNMNC decision 21-H. It is listed as redefined by a 2021 special procedure in the September 2026 list. It is distinct from the Fe-dominant species bixbyite-(Fe), the broader bixbyite structural series, elemental manganese and MnO2 minerals. The laboratory culture product below was assigned only as bixbyite-like Mn oxide by its authors. Its placement here expresses the Mn-rich structural analogy, not a retrospective certification of pure natural bixbyite-(Mn). No criticality designation is inherited from manganese.

• Mesorhizobium australicum

Bobierrite is the hydrated magnesium phosphate mineral species Mg3(PO4)2(H2O)8. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1868, not an approval identifier. It is distinct from the other mineral species barićite, from elemental magnesium or phosphorus, and from mixed phosphate products. The studies below assign bobierrite to recovered culture precipitates; neither proves a purified product or industrial recovery. Constituent criticality is not inherited.

Brochantite is the monoclinic copper hydroxysulfate mineral Cu4(SO4)(OH)6. It is distinct from elemental copper, other copper minerals and mixed corrosion patinas. The laboratory mineral experiment below used a synthetic preparation. No criticality designation is inherited from copper.

• Beauveria bassiana

Brucite is the magnesium hydroxide mineral Mg(OH)2. The IMA-CNMNC September 2026 master list gives grandfathered status G and the original-description year 1818, not a numbered approval identifier. It is distinct from elemental magnesium, magnesium-metal commodity, the brucite mineral group, and chemically unspecified magnesium hydroxide products. Field observations at Prony Bay document brucite encrusting microbial filaments; they do not establish that microbes are required for brucite formation. No criticality designation is inherited from magnesium.

Brushite is the hydrated calcium hydrogen phosphate mineral Ca(PO3OH)(H2O)2, commonly written CaHPO4·2H2O. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1865, not a unique approval accession. It is distinct from anhydrous monetite, apatite minerals, elemental phosphorus and mixed phosphate fertilizers. The curated laboratory experiment contains brushite-bearing mixtures, including cell-free precipitates, rather than a phase-pure recovered product. No constituent criticality is inherited.

• Escherichia coli

Cadmium (Cd), atomic number 48. The neutral-atom identifier grounds the element, not Cd(II), cadmium chloride, cadmium sulfide, or a mineral species. India's June 2023 committee list names the cadmium material; that dated designation is mapped to this element without extending it to its compounds. This is the 30-material committee assessment, not a claim about the separate statutory critical/strategic schedule or current law. Curated laboratory evidence concerns culture-associated cadmium-sulfide formation.

• Klebsiella planticola

Calcium carbonate mineral with ideal formula CaCO3, distinct from its polymorphs vaterite and aragonite, calcium as an element, limestone or marble resources, and manufactured calcium carbonate products. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1836, not a new-mineral approval accession. Curated laboratory experiments identify calcite in bacterial-treatment solids; neither metal-removal percentages nor criticality designations are inherited by this mineral from their target metals.

• Lysinibacillus
• Sporosarcina pasteurii

Celestine, also called celestite in the primary study, is the orthorhombic strontium sulfate mineral SrSO4 in the barite group. It is distinct from strontianite, elemental strontium, mixed sulfate phases, strontium-containing solutions and the industrial baryte commodity. The September 2026 IMA list reports approved status with 1967 s.p.; this special-procedure notation is not a unique numbered mineral accession. The curated laboratory study identifies celestine alongside strontianite on cyanobacterial cell surfaces; no mineral-specific criticality designation, pure-phase recovery yield or industrial application is inferred.

Cerium (Ce), a lanthanoid chemical element. The United States' named cerium commodity designation is mapped to this element without extending it to every cerium compound. The experiment uses soluble CeCl3 and yields cerium-bearing phosphate/oxalate solids, not elemental cerium metal.

• Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015

Cerussite is the grandfathered lead carbonate mineral, Pb(CO3), recognized by the IMA-CNMNC September 2026 list. It is distinct from elemental lead, hydrocerussite, anglesite, lead oxalate, lead-bearing ore and battery paste. The dated list gives 1845 as the original-description year, not an IMA approval number. No criticality designation is inherited from lead.

• Serpula himantioides
• Coniophora puteana
• Serpula lacrymans
• +1 more

Chernikovite is a hydrated hydronium uranyl phosphate mineral, represented as (H3O)(UO2)(PO4)(H2O)3 in the September 2026 IMA list. Its status A and 1988 s.p. entry indicate approval by a special procedure, not a numbered 1988 proposal identifier. The Handbook describes a tetragonal member of the meta-autunite group. This species is distinct from calcium autunite, meta-autunite, dissolved uranium and phosphate-rock feedstock. The study below identifies a laboratory precipitate by comparison with a chernikovite powder pattern; it does not examine a natural chernikovite ore or establish a phase-pure product. No uranium criticality designation is inherited by the mineral.

• Talaromyces funiculosus

Chukanovite is the iron(II) hydroxide-carbonate mineral species Fe2(CO3)(OH)2, approved as IMA 2005-039 in the September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list. It is distinct from siderite, mixed-valence green rusts, elemental iron and mixed culture products. The curated experiments concern source-assigned laboratory precipitates, not a pure recovered commodity or an industrial process. No constituent iron criticality designation is inherited.

• Shewanella putrefaciens CN-32

Residual solids from flotation concentration of copper-bearing ores, distinct from unprocessed ore, copper concentrate, smelter slag and heap-leach residues. The curated feed is the inactive Las Luces T1 tailings wall near Taltal, Chile. The operator describes sulfide-ore flotation and tailings thickening at the Las Luces concentrator; the experiment characterizes a heterogeneous, silicate-rich sample containing residual copper and other elements. Its composition does not define all copper flotation tailings. No constituent's criticality designation is inherited.

Covellite is the CuS mineral species, listed as grandfathered with original description year 1832 in the September 2026 IMA list. It is distinct from elemental copper, dissolved copper, mixed copper ores and an unspecified manufactured copper sulfide. The experiment below identifies a covellite crystalline phase in a laboratory precipitate made from mine drainage using biologically generated sulfide; it does not demonstrate microbial leaching of natural covellite or establish the purity of the whole precipitate. No criticality designation is inherited from copper.

Dolomite is the calcium-magnesium carbonate mineral CaMg(CO3)2. The IMA-CNMNC September 2026 list gives grandfathered status G and original-description year 1792, not a numbered approval identifier. This owner denotes the mineral species, distinct from dolostone rock, the dolomite mineral group, Mg-bearing calcite, compositionally similar disordered precursors, and elemental magnesium. A laboratory mixed-biofilm study reports dolomite with detectable ordering reflections in an anoxic illuminated Mn-amended treatment; neither all Mg-rich carbonate precipitates nor all mineral samples are thereby identical. No criticality designation is inherited from a constituent.

Dypingite is the hydrated magnesium carbonate mineral species Mg5(CO3)4(OH)2·5H2O, listed as approved with IMA number 1970-011 in the September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list. It is distinct from hydromagnesite, nesquehonite, elemental magnesium and the magnesite commodity. The laboratory products below were identified as dypingite by the study authors; they are not an isolated magnesium-metal product. No constituent-element criticality designation is inherited.

Falottaite is the manganese oxalate trihydrate mineral MnC2O4.3H2O, approved as IMA 2013-044 in the September 2026 IMA compilation. It is distinct from elemental manganese, manganese oxides and manganese oxalate dihydrates. Its identity does not confer a criticality designation from manganese. The experimental product below is a phase assigned in a mixed laboratory precipitate, not a natural ore or purified commodity.

• Aspergillus niger

Feitknechtite is the manganese(III) oxide hydroxide mineral beta-MnOOH, listed as approved with the notation 1968 s.p. in the September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list. That notation is retained as authority metadata, not converted into an invented accession. Post et al. (2023) resolve a monoclinic C2/m structure, superseding older trigonal descriptions; the species is distinct from manganite and groutite and from Mn(II) pyrochroite. The mechanism below concerns a source-assigned transient mixed-phase product. No criticality is inherited from manganese.

• Geobacter sulfurreducens

Fluorapatite is the calcium phosphate fluoride mineral with IMA-CNMNC formula Ca5(PO4)3F. The September 2026 list records renamed status and a 2010 special procedure; this is not a new-mineral approval number. It is distinct from elemental phosphorus or fluorine, hydroxyapatite, chlorapatite and the heterogeneous phosphate-rock resource. No criticality designation is inherited from its constituents.

• Serpula himantioides
• Coniophora puteana
• Serpula lacrymans
• +1 more

Glushinskite is the magnesium oxalate dihydrate mineral species, Mg(C2O4)(H2O)2, listed as redefined by the IMA in a 1987 special procedure in its September 2026 list. That date is not an approval-number identifier. It is distinct from elemental magnesium, magnesium oxalate without a specified hydration state, and the phosphate mineral feeds in the experiment. This record reuses the Suyamud 2020 experiment represented under magnesium and dittmarite; these are separate material identities, not independent experiments. No constituent-element criticality is inherited.

• Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015

Gold (Au), represented by its neutral-atom identity. The laboratory Au(III)-chloride solutions and source-assigned cell-associated particles below are experimental forms of this element, not separate ore or waste-feed identities. No criticality-list designation is asserted here.

• Cupriavidus metallidurans

Greenockite is the hexagonal CdS mineral species, distinct from cubic hawleyite, unspecified cadmium-sulfide nanoparticles, elemental cadmium and mixed ores. The September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1840; that year is not a unique approval accession. The curated mechanism concerns a synthetic greenockite-assigned component of mixed CdS produced in a defined microbial laboratory experiment, not a demonstrated origin or extraction pathway for every natural greenockite occurrence. No cadmium criticality designation is inherited.

• Thermoanaerobacter sp. X513

Greigite is the mixed-valence iron sulfide mineral Fe2+Fe3+2S4, conventionally written Fe3S4, approved as IMA 1963-007 in the September 2026 IMA list. It is distinct from elemental iron, mackinawite, pyrite, magnetite, and an undifferentiated iron-sulfide precipitate. The observations below concern extracellular greigite formed in mixed laboratory mineral assemblages, not extracted natural ore or a purified recovered product. No criticality status is inferred from a constituent element.

• Thermococcus prieurii
• Thermococcus kodakarensis KOD1

Hawleyite is the cubic CdS mineral species, distinct from hexagonal greenockite, unspecified cadmium-sulfide nanoparticles, elemental cadmium and secondary wastes. The September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1955; that year is not a unique approval accession. Curated microbial evidence concerns synthetic hawleyite-assigned particles and mixed CdS from a defined X513 experiment. Mineral identity does not make every Cd-S precipitate hawleyite. No constituent criticality designation is inherited.

• Thermoanaerobacter sp. X513

Hazenite is the hydrated potassium sodium magnesium phosphate mineral species KNaMg2(PO4)2(H2O)14, approved as IMA2007-061 and listed as approved in the September 2026 IMA list. It is distinct from elemental phosphorus, magnesium or potassium, the ammonium analog of hazenite, and mixed lake deposits or recovered fertilizers. The original description establishes a natural mineral associated with dried or decomposed cyanobacterial material; it does not establish exclusive biological formation, a quantified recovery process or industrial deployment. Constituent criticality is not inherited.

• Stappia sp.

Hemimorphite is the orthorhombic hydrated zinc silicate mineral Zn4Si2O7(OH)2·H2O. The September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list records approved status A and 1962 s.p.; this special-procedure entry is not a numbered new-mineral approval. The record distinguishes crystalline hemimorphite from willemite, mixed zinc ores and a poorly ordered hemimorphite-like microbial precursor. It contains a natural-sample chemical-leaching experiment and narrowly scoped precursor-associated field evidence. It does not assert microbial production of phase-pure crystalline hemimorphite, inherited criticality or industrial recovery.

• Stenomitos frigidus

Hollandite is the barium manganese oxide mineral with IMA-CNMNC formula Ba(Mn4+6Mn3+2)O16 in the September 2026 list, which records redefined status and a 2012 special procedure. The mineral species is distinct from the broader hollandite structure family, elemental manganese, manganese ore and manganese oxalates. No criticality designation is inherited from manganese or barium.

• Serpula himantioides
• Coniophora puteana
• Serpula lacrymans
• +1 more

Hopeite is the orthorhombic zinc phosphate tetrahydrate mineral, ideal Zn3(PO4)2.4H2O, distinct from its dimorph parahopeite, zinc metal, zinc sulfate reagent and zinc oxalates. The September 2026 IMA list records grandfathered status G and original-description year 1826; that year is not an approval accession. The curated experiment distinguishes chemically precipitated starting hopeite from fungal-associated surface alteration and secondary hopeite-assigned crystals. No criticality designation is inherited from zinc.

• Aspergillus niger

Humboldtine is the iron(II) oxalate dihydrate mineral Fe(C2O4).2H2O, listed as a grandfathered species, with original-description year 1821, in the September 2026 IMA compilation. It is distinct from elemental iron, dissolved iron-oxalate complexes, other metal oxalates and the heterogeneous siderite- and pyrrhotite-bearing experimental feeds. No criticality designation is inherited from iron.

• Aspergillus niger
• Serpula himantioides
• Coniophora puteana
• +2 more

Huntite is the calcium-magnesium carbonate mineral species CaMg3(CO3)4, grandfathered in the September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list with original-description year 1953. That year is not an approval identifier. Huntite is distinct from dolomite, magnesite, hydrated magnesium carbonates and elemental magnesium. The reported culture products are mixed mineral assemblages, and no constituent-element criticality is inherited.

Hydrocerussite is the Pb3(CO3)2(OH)2 mineral species, listed as grandfathered with original-description year 1877 in the September 2026 IMA master list. It is distinct from cerussite, pyromorphite, elemental lead and lead-bearing wastes. The accepted experiment concerns a hydrocerussite-assigned component in processed bacterial-cell products from lead acetate solution, not a pure recovered mineral or an industrial waste assay. The Kato2022 experiment is also contextualized under lead and pyromorphite; these records are not independent replications. No lead-commodity criticality is inherited.

• Pseudomonas

Hydromagnesite is the hydrated magnesium carbonate mineral species Mg5(CO3)4(OH)2(H2O)4. The September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1828, not an IMA approval number. It is distinct from dypingite, nesquehonite, elemental magnesium and the magnesite commodity. The culture evidence concerns a reported component of mixed carbonate products, not magnesium metal or a purified hydromagnesite commodity; constituent criticality is not inherited.

Hydroxylapatite is the hydroxyl-dominant apatite mineral species Ca5(PO4)3(OH), commonly called hydroxyapatite in experimental literature. The September 2026 IMA list gives renamed status and 2010 s.p.; this is a nomenclatural special procedure, not a new-mineral accession. It is distinct from fluorapatite, chlorapatite, generic apatite, mixed phosphate rock and elemental phosphorus or calcium. This record concerns source-assigned nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite in a laboratory biofilm model, without assuming a measured pure end-member composition, criticality designation or industrial recovery.

• Escherichia coli str. K-12 substr. W3110

Hydrozincite is the monoclinic zinc hydroxycarbonate mineral Zn5(CO3)2(OH)6, listed by IMA-CNMNC in September 2026 with grandfathered status G and original-description year 1853, not a numbered approval. It is distinct from smithsonite, zincite, elemental zinc and mixed zinc-bearing sediments. The curated evidence concerns hydrozincite-bearing field mats associated with photosynthetic microorganisms and a separate sterile precipitation experiment. It supports a qualified biological association rather than a pure-culture demonstration of microbial necessity, a phase-specific metal recovery yield, or industrial deployment. No criticality designation is inherited from zinc.

The element Fe, distinct from its dissolved ions, iron-bearing minerals, alloys, and ore grades. The UK designation maps to the explicitly named iron entry in the government's technical annex; it does not designate every Fe-bearing compound or Canada's separate high-purity iron ore commodity.

• Desulfovulcanus ferrireducens

Katsarosite is the approved zinc oxalate dihydrate mineral, ideal Zn(C2O4).2H2O, IMA 2020-014, with monoclinic C2/c structure. It is distinct from zinc metal, dissolved zinc, zinc sulfate reagent and magnesium-dominant oxalates that can have a related diffraction pattern. No criticality designation is inherited from zinc.

• Aspergillus niger

Kornelite is a monoclinic ferric sulfate mineral, represented in the September 2026 IMA list as Fe(III)2(SO4)3(H2O)6·1.75H2O. Its additional channel water is variable; historical seven-water formulae are not exact hydration measurements for every specimen. This species is distinct from paracoquimbite, ferricopiapite and undifferentiated ferric-sulfate salts. The evidence below separates abiotic synthesis of a characterized crystalline product from provisional diffraction assignments in mixed bacterial-culture solids. Neither experiment establishes a recovered iron product from ore or waste, industrial deployment or a criticality designation.

• Desulfovibrio desulfuricans

Lansfordite is the hydrated magnesium carbonate mineral Mg(CO3)(H2O)5, conventionally MgCO3·5H2O, listed as grandfathered with original-description year 1888 in the September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list. The year is not an approval identifier. It is distinct from nesquehonite, other magnesium carbonates, magnesium metal and mixed mineral resources. Evidence below separates abiotic laboratory synthesis/dehydration from one natural occurrence associated with cactus decay; no constituent criticality, identified microbial producer or industrial recovery is inferred.

The element La, distinct from dissolved La(III), lanthanum chloride, lanthanum oxalate, lanthanum oxide and La-bearing minerals or wastes. The dated US designation concerns the named lanthanum mineral commodity; it does not transfer criticality to every La-bearing material. Laboratory evidence below concerns fungal production of a precipitation medium and separate chemical conversion of a precipitate, not extraction from an ore.

• Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015

Lindbergite is the approved manganese oxalate dihydrate mineral, Mn(C2O4)(H2O)2, IMA 2003-029. The authoritative mineral description assigns monoclinic symmetry and space group C2/c. It is distinct from elemental manganese, natural manganese nodules, the orthorhombic manganese oxalate dihydrate polymorph, and the trihydrate falottaite. No criticality designation is inherited from manganese.

• Aspergillus niger
• Serpula himantioides

Naturally occurring geothermal saline water containing dissolved lithium, considered as a geological extraction feed. The resource is a variable aqueous mixture, distinct from elemental lithium, a mineral species, manufactured lithium carbonate and waste-derived secondary resources. The curated experiment used one unsterilized brine from an unnamed Cornish geothermal project; its composition and laboratory response do not define all geothermal brines. No criticality designation or external material identifier is inferred from the lithium constituent.

• Sporosarcina pasteurii

Mackinawite is the FeS mineral species listed as approved, with the designation 1967 s.p., in the September 2026 IMA compilation. The phase is distinct from unspecified iron monosulfide, pyrrhotite, greigite, pyrite and elemental iron. The evidence below concerns laboratory precipitation from dissolved reagents and direct crystallographic identification, not extraction from a natural mackinawite ore. No constituent-element criticality designation is inherited.

• Maridesulfovibrio hydrothermalis AM13 = DSM 14728

Magnesium (Mg), the chemical element. The named magnesium commodity in the US 2025 list is mapped to this element; its designation is not inherited by every magnesium mineral. The experiment concerns magnesium-containing mineral transformation, not production of elemental magnesium metal.

• Aspergillus niger ATCC 1015

Magnetite is the Fe(II)Fe(III)2O4 mineral species, grandfathered in the September 2026 IMA list with original-description year 1845. It is distinct from elemental iron, maghemite, ferrihydrite and a mixed magnetic precipitate. The experiment below forms a magnetite-rich, probably cation-deficient mixed product from synthetic ferrihydrite; it does not demonstrate pure ideal magnetite or recovery from natural magnetite ore. The Ax17 assay is also represented under iron and the paired ferrihydrite/magnetite record; these are substrate/product perspectives on one experiment, not independent replication. No iron criticality designation is inherited.

• Desulfovulcanus ferrireducens

Malachite is the grandfathered copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, Cu2(CO3)(OH)2, recognized by the IMA-CNMNC September 2026 list. It is distinct from elemental copper, azurite, copper oxalate moolooite, malachite-green dye and mixed copper ores. The experiment curated here used synthetic malachite, not a natural ore. No criticality designation is inherited from copper.

• Serpula himantioides
• Coniophora puteana
• Serpula lacrymans
• +1 more

Manganese ore here denotes natural manganese-bearing geological feed, including the mixed ore excavated from an abandoned Michigan mine in the curated study. It is a primary resource, distinct from the pyrolusite mineral species, elemental manganese, electrolytic manganese products and processing residues. The source calls its sample pyrolusite ore, but reports several manganese minerals. This record does not define a traded product grade or inherit constituent criticality.

• Aspergillus niger

Melanterite is the monoclinic ferrous sulfate heptahydrate mineral, FeSO4·7H2O, grandfathered in the September 2026 IMA list. It is distinct from dissolved ferrous sulfate, other sulfate hydrates and ferric oxides. The accepted primary study assigns minor melanterite in a mixed solid from a nitrate/Fe(II) microcosm containing Comamonas strain HJ-2. This is a qualified culture-associated phase observation, not proof of metabolically necessary crystallization, pure-mineral production or iron recovery. The strain's species identification is unresolved.

Meta-ankoleite is an IMA-approved potassium uranyl phosphate mineral, K(UO2)(PO4)·3H2O, approval 1963-013. The doubled formula K2(UO2)2(PO4)2·6H2O describes the same ideal composition. It is distinct from calcium meta-autunite, hydronium chernikovite, ammonium uramphite, dissolved uranium salts and elemental uranium. The laboratory evidence below is a source-assigned meta-ankoleite component of yeast-associated uranyl phosphate precipitates; overlapping diffraction matches and incomplete cation/hydration characterization prevent an unequivocal pure-species assignment. No uranium criticality designation is inherited.

• Kluyveromyces lactis

Millerite is the trigonal NiS mineral species, distinct from hexagonal alpha-NiS, hydrated or unresolved nickel-sulfide precursors, elemental nickel and mixed ores. The September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1845; that year is not a unique approval accession. The curated mechanism concerns a synthetic mineral-assigned component of laboratory precipitates. No nickel criticality designation or industrial deployment is inherited.

• Nitratidesulfovibrio vulgaris str. Hildenborough

Monetite is the anhydrous calcium hydrogen-phosphate mineral CaHPO4, written Ca(PO3OH) in the September 2026 IMA list. It is triclinic and distinct from brushite, CaHPO4.2H2O, and from a whole dental resin composite. The IMA entry has grandfathered status G and original-description year 1882, not a unique approval accession. The curated laboratory evidence concerns source-assigned monetite on synthetic brushite-containing composite surfaces following live biofilm or cell-free spent-broth exposure; it does not establish natural occurrence in those specimens or pure-mineral recovery. No criticality designation is inherited from calcium or phosphorus.

• Streptococcus mutans

Hydrated calcium carbonate mineral with ideal formula CaCO3·H2O, distinct from anhydrous calcite, vaterite and aragonite, magnesium carbonate minerals, calcium as an element and carbonate-bearing resources. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1964, not a new-mineral approval accession. Laboratory phase-selective formation is curated without inheriting criticality from another material or asserting a critical-metal recovery application.

• Halomonas

Moolooite is an approved copper oxalate mineral, IMA 1980-082, listed as Cu(C2O4).nH2O in the September 2026 IMA compilation. The variable hydration is retained rather than treating every specimen as a measured monohydrate. It is distinct from elemental copper, other copper oxalates such as wheatleyite, and the heterogeneous ore used in the experiment below. No criticality designation is inherited from copper.

• Aspergillus niger

Nesquehonite is the hydrated magnesium carbonate mineral species Mg(CO3)(H2O)2·H2O, listed as grandfathered in the September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list with original-description year 1890. That year is not an approval identifier. It is distinct from dypingite, hydromagnesite, elemental magnesium and the magnesite commodity. The evidence below concerns nesquehonite within laboratory precipitates, not magnesium metal or an industrially recovered product; no constituent criticality is inherited.

• Desemzia incerta

Newberyite is the hydrated magnesium hydrogen-phosphate mineral species Mg(PO3OH)(H2O)3. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1879, not a new-mineral approval identifier. It is distinct from elemental phosphorus or magnesium, struvite, other phosphate mineral species and mixed culture precipitates. Constituent criticality is not inherited. The culture evidence below is a bounded assignment of a minor recovered phase, not a purified product or established direct metabolic pathway.

Ningyoite is an approved mineral species listed as (U,Ca,Ce)2(PO4)2·1-2H2O in the September 2026 IMA compilation, with status A and special-procedure entry 1962 s.p. Experimental papers use the calcium U(IV)-phosphate formulations CaU(PO4)2·H2O or CaU(PO4)2 for their assigned products; those formulas do not establish every natural specimen's composition. The mineral is distinct from elemental uranium, uramphite, uraninite and molecular U(IV)-phosphate complexes. The observations below concern laboratory products, not a natural ore feed or an industrial recovery process. No criticality designation is inherited from uranium.

• Carboxydothermus ferrireducens
• Desulforamulus reducens MI-1

Otavite is the cadmium carbonate mineral CdCO3 in the calcite group, distinct from elemental cadmium, dissolved Cd ions, cadmium sulfides and unspecified cadmium-bearing precipitates. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1906, not a unique approval accession. The curated laboratory study tentatively assigns a cell-associated synthetic precipitate to otavite; it does not establish a pure mineral product or the origin of natural otavite. No cadmium criticality designation is inherited.

• Serratia marcescens

Parasymplesite is the monoclinic ferrous arsenate mineral Fe(II)3(AsO4)2·8H2O, a vivianite-group species dimorphous with symplesite. The September 2026 IMA list records grandfathered status G and historical year 1954, not a numbered approval proposal. It is distinct from ferric arsenate scorodite, phosphate vivianite, dissolved arsenic and the arsenate-bearing ferrihydrite precursor. The laboratory observation below assigns parasymplesite to mixed solids after bacterial reduction; it does not establish a pure natural-mineral product or an arsenic recovery yield. No constituent criticality designation is inherited.

• Citrobacter sp.

Polydymite is the cubic nickel thiospinel mineral species, with IMA formula Ni2+Ni3+2S4 (Ni3S4), distinct from Fe-bearing violarite, other nickel sulfides, elemental nickel and mixed ores. The September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1876; that year is not a unique approval accession. The curated mechanism concerns a synthetic mineral-assigned component of laboratory precipitates. No nickel criticality designation or industrial deployment is inherited.

• Nitratidesulfovibrio vulgaris str. Hildenborough

Naturally occurring marine iron-manganese oxide and hydroxide concretions, commonly occurring on abyssal sediments and containing variable nickel, copper, cobalt and other constituents. This resource identity denotes the nodules, not a pure mineral species, constituent element, processing residue or defined traded metal grade. It is distinguished from rock-surface ferromanganese crusts and the terrestrial mixed manganese ore curated separately. Collection, drying and grinding do not make this geological feed a secondary resource. No constituent criticality designation is inherited.

Pyrochroite is the manganese(II) hydroxide mineral Mn2+(OH)2, listed as grandfathered in the September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list. The historical year 1864 is not an approval accession. This mineral is distinct from manganese metal, manganese ore and manganese(III) oxide hydroxide species. The experiment below concerns source-assigned pyrochroite in a mixed laboratory product; it does not certify a phase-pure natural mineral or establish criticality by inheritance from manganese.

• Geobacter sulfurreducens

Concentrated aqueous reject stream generated during reverse-osmosis water treatment, considered here as a secondary feed for constituent separation and recovery. Its salts, nutrients, contaminants and treatment additives depend on the source water and process. The curated experiment used concentrate produced in the laboratory from Arkansas River water, not natural geothermal brine or oil-and-gas produced water. This process-generated mixture is distinct from its dissolved elements, precipitated mineral phases and traded products. No criticality designation is inherited from a constituent.

Rhodochrosite is the manganese carbonate mineral Mn(CO3). The September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list gives status A and the entry '1962 s.p.'; this special procedure notation is not a numbered new-mineral accession. The Handbook of Mineralogy places it in the calcite group and describes hydrothermal, metamorphic, carbonatite and sedimentary occurrences. This species owner is distinct from elemental manganese, dissolved Mn(II), mixed manganese ore, kutnohorite and the synthetic colloidal Mn(IV) oxide used in the experiment below. The curated mechanism concerns laboratory formation of rhodochrosite during bacterial reduction of that oxide, not extraction from a natural rhodochrosite feed. No manganese criticality designation, isolated mineral recovery yield or industrial deployment is inherited.

• Shewanella oneidensis MR-1

Saponite is an IMA-listed smectite-group mineral with variable Mg-Fe-Al composition, written (Ca,Na)0.3(Mg,Fe)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2.4H2O in the September 2026 list. It has grandfathered status G and original-description year 1840, not a unique approval accession. The laboratory material below is the authors' saponite assignment for poorly ordered Mg-Al silicate associated with mixed microbial cultures. Its diffuse electron diffraction and lack of resolved bulk XRD peaks do not independently establish a well-crystallized, phase-pure saponite product. This owner is distinct from the smectite group and from co-precipitated carbonates; no constituent criticality designation is inherited.

• Bacillariophyta

Schertelite is the hydrated magnesium hydrogen-phosphate mineral species (NH4)2Mg(PO3OH)2(H2O)4. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1902, not a new-mineral approval identifier. It is distinct from elemental phosphorus or magnesium, struvite, other phosphate mineral species and mixed culture precipitates. Constituent criticality is not inherited. The culture evidence below is a bounded assignment of a minor recovered phase, not a purified product or established direct metabolic pathway.

Schwertmannite is an iron(III) oxyhydroxysulfate mineral listed as approved under IMA 1990-006 in the September 2026 IMA compilation. It is distinct from elemental iron, dissolved ferrous sulfate, jarosite and an unspecified iron precipitate. The evidence below concerns laboratory synthesis from dissolved reagents and subsequent testing of the collected material, not extraction from a natural ore or industrial mineral recovery. No criticality designation is inherited from a constituent element.

• Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

Scorodite is the ferric arsenate mineral FeAsO4.2H2O, listed as Fe3+(AsO4)(H2O)2 in the September 2026 IMA list. It is grandfathered, with original-description year 1818; that year is not an approval number. Scorodite is distinct from its dimorph parascorodite, amorphous ferric arsenate, elemental arsenic or iron, and mixed arsenic-bearing wastes. Laboratory culture-associated precipitation can transfer arsenic from solution into scorodite-bearing solids. The evidence below does not establish permanent environmental sequestration, a saleable recovery product or industrial deployment. No criticality designation is inherited from a constituent element.

• Acidianus brierleyi

Senarmontite is the cubic Sb2O3 mineral species, distinct from orthorhombic valentinite, mixed-valence antimony oxides, elemental antimony and stibnite. The September 2026 IMA list records status Rn (renamed) and year 1851. The observations below concern laboratory precipitates formed from dissolved potassium antimony(III) tartrate, not extraction of natural senarmontite ore or isolated antimony recovery. No criticality designation is inherited from the constituent element.

• Hydrogenophaga sp. IDSBO-1
• Variovorax sp. IDSBO-4

Siderite is the ferrous carbonate mineral species Fe(CO3), listed as approved through a 1962 special procedure in the September 2026 IMA list. The special-procedure year is not an approval-number CURIE. The selected culture experiment identifies siderite alongside dominant vivianite, rather than a pure carbonate product. It is distinct from elemental iron, iron-ore commodities and other iron-bearing phases. This is the same experiment curated under vivianite, not independent evidence or an inherited criticality designation.

• Tessaracoccus lapidicaptus

The element Si, distinct from dissolved silicic acid, biogenic silica, crystalline silica minerals and the silicon-metal commodity. The United States 2025 list's Silicon material designation is mapped to this element; it does not designate every silicate or imply that diatom silica formation recovers semiconductor-grade or metallic silicon.

• Thalassiosira pseudonana CCMP1335

Smithsonite is the zinc carbonate mineral Zn(CO3), listed by IMA-CNMNC in September 2026 with grandfathered status G and original-description year 1832. That year is not a numbered mineral approval. The Handbook of Mineralogy describes it as a calcite-group mineral formed in oxidized zinc deposits, sometimes replacing carbonate rocks and constituting zinc ore. This mineral owner is distinct from elemental zinc, dissolved zinc chloride, hydrozincite and mixed oxidized zinc ore. The experiment below concerns a laboratory precipitate assigned to smithsonite after drying; it does not demonstrate microbial extraction from natural smithsonite ore. No criticality designation is inherited from zinc, and no isolated-product recovery or industrial deployment is asserted.

• Sporosarcina pasteurii

Waste acidic electrolyte drained from used lead-acid batteries and its chemically pretreated liquid effluent. The accepted biological experiment concerns the residual sulfate-, Pb- and Cd-bearing liquid after lime precipitation and carbonation, not untreated concentrated acid, solid lead paste, battery grids or an intact battery. This use-derived liquid resource is distinct from elemental lead, galena and other spent-battery chemistries. No constituent criticality designation is inherited.

Stevensite is a Mg-rich smectite name listed with questionable status Q, original-description year 1873, in the September 2026 IMA list; it is not an approved or grandfathered entry. The listed formula is (Ca,Na)xMg3-ySi4O10(OH)2. The experimental material below is a synthetic, poorly crystalline Mg-rich trioctahedral smectite assigned by the authors as likely stevensite, not independently established phase-pure mineral. This owner is distinct from saponite, hectorite, amorphous Mg-silicate, and its carbonate transformation products. No constituent criticality designation is inherited.

Strontianite is the orthorhombic strontium carbonate mineral SrCO3, an aragonite-group species distinct from Sr-substituted calcite, mixed calcium-strontium carbonates, celestine, elemental strontium and commercial strontium salts. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1791, not a numbered approval accession. The curated experiment identifies strontianite in a laboratory bacterial coating on printed polymer; no mineral-specific criticality designation or industrial recovery claim is inferred.

• Sporosarcina pasteurii

Strontium (Sr), represented as an element distinct from dissolved Sr(II), strontianite or other mineral species, and strontium-bearing commodities or wastes. Laboratory cultures of Bacillus sp. TK2d lowered soluble Sr from a defined saline SrCl2 medium while Sr-bearing carbonate-rich material formed. The EU 2024 critical-raw-material designation names strontium; it is not inherited by every strontium compound or waste.

• Bacillus sp. TK2d

Switzerite is the monoclinic manganese(II) phosphate heptahydrate mineral, ideal Mn3(PO4)2.7H2O, written Mn2+3(PO4)2(H2O)5.2H2O in the September 2026 IMA list (redefined status Rd; number 1966-042). The tetrahydrate previously called switzerite was renamed metaswitzerite; they are distinct mineral species. The microbial evidence is a qualified source assignment in streptomycete cultures, without published switzerite diffraction traces or direct hydrate determination for those products. Separate primary observations establish air dehydration of a natural Fe-bearing specimen. No criticality designation is inherited from manganese or phosphorus.

• Streptomyces

Vaesite is the cubic NiS2 mineral species, distinct from millerite, polydymite, unresolved nickel-sulfide precursors, elemental nickel and mixed ores. The September 2026 IMA-CNMNC list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1945; that year is not a unique approval accession. The curated mechanism concerns a synthetic mineral-assigned component of laboratory precipitates. No nickel criticality designation or industrial deployment is inherited.

• Nitratidesulfovibrio vulgaris str. Hildenborough

Calcium carbonate mineral with ideal formula CaCO3, distinct from calcite, aragonite, amorphous calcium carbonate, calcium as an element and commercial calcium carbonate products. The September 2026 IMA list gives approved status and 1962 special-procedure notation; this is not a new-mineral accession. The curated laboratory evidence concerns vaterite assigned in processed mixed solids from one geothermal-brine experiment, without a pure-phase yield or inherited lithium criticality designation.

• Sporosarcina pasteurii

Vivianite is the hydrated ferrous phosphate mineral species Fe2+3(PO4)2(H2O)8, grandfathered in the September 2026 IMA list with original-description year 1817. It is distinct from elemental iron or phosphorus and from mixed recovered phosphate products. The bounded culture experiment below identifies vivianite as the dominant phase of a vivianite-siderite mixture. The same experiment is represented in siderite; these are separate mineral identities, not independent studies or inherited criticality designations.

• Tessaracoccus lapidicaptus

Weddellite is the tetragonal calcium oxalate hydrate mineral species listed by IMA as Ca(C2O4)(H2O)2, distinct from monoclinic whewellite, caoxite and mixed ore or commodity resources. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status and original-description year 1942, not an approval accession. The 2019 study uses a variable-water formulation for the dihydrate but does not measure water occupancy in its field crystals. This record preserves field-associated phase evidence and a contrasting culture result without inherited criticality, isolated recovery or industrial deployment.

Wheatleyite is the sodium-copper oxalate dihydrate mineral Na2Cu(C2O4)2(H2O)2, approved as IMA 1984-040. It is distinct from moolooite, other copper oxalates, elemental copper and the mixed weathered ore used in the experiment below. A laboratory product was assigned to wheatleyite by powder diffraction; this does not establish a phase-pure recovered product or a natural ore deposit. No constituent criticality designation is inherited.

• Aspergillus niger

Whewellite is the monoclinic calcium oxalate monohydrate mineral species Ca(C2O4)(H2O), distinct from weddellite, caoxite, calcium or phosphorus elements, and apatite-nepheline ore as a mixed resource. The September 2026 IMA list marks it approved with 1967 s.p.; that special-procedure notation is not a new-mineral accession. This record covers culture-associated whewellite and separate field-associated calcium oxalates from one 2019 study, without a recovery yield, industrial deployment or inherited constituent criticality.

• Aspergillus niger

Whitlockite is a calcium-magnesium hydrogen phosphate mineral. The September 2026 IMA list gives ideal Ca9 vacancy Mg(PO3OH)(PO4)6 and grandfathered status G with original-description year 1941; the vacancy is a structural site and the year is not an approval accession. It is distinct from beta-tricalcium phosphate, apatite minerals, amorphous calcium phosphate and phosphate resources. The curated microbial experiment reports a whitlockite-assigned product but explicitly retains Mg-stabilized beta-TCP as an alternative assignment; this record does not assert unambiguous phase purity. No constituent criticality is inherited.

• Carboxydothermus hydrogenoformans

Wurtzite is the hexagonal zinc sulfide mineral, ideally ZnS, distinct from cubic sphalerite, elemental zinc and unspecified ZnS particles. The September 2026 IMA list gives grandfathered status and the original-description year 1861, not an approval accession. The accepted primary experiment assigned wurtzite together with sphalerite in dried precipitates from unresolved sulfate-reducing bacterial consortia; it did not isolate pure wurtzite or measure a phase-specific recovery yield. No criticality claim is inherited from zinc or sulfur.

Zincite is the hexagonal ZnO mineral species listed by IMA-CNMNC in September 2026 with grandfathered status G and original-description year 1845, not a numbered approval. The Handbook documents natural Zn-dominant oxide with possible Mn substitution. This owner is distinct from elemental zinc, hydrozincite, zinc oxalate and mixed zinc-bearing wastes. Evidence below concerns commercial zincite-structured ZnO in fungal experiments and a separate source-described natural zincite specimen in an abiotic dissolution experiment. Commercial particles are synthetic analogues, not natural ore. No criticality designation, phase-specific recovery yield or industrial deployment is asserted.

• Aspergillus niger