Mineral Groups – Physical Geology
Mineral Groups Most minerals are made up of a cation (a positively charged ion) or several cations and an anion (a negatively charged ion (, S 2–)) or an anion complex (, SO 4 2–). For example, in the mineral hematite (Fe 2 O 3), the cation is Fe 3 + (iron) and the anion is O 2– (oxygen). We group minerals into classes on the basis of their predominant anion or anion group.