A brief overview of X-ray diffraction techniques currently used for the structural investigation of new minerals is provided, focusing mostly on X-ray diffraction from single crystals, which remains the most widely used method, and on the emerging field of electron diffraction methods that are expected to overtake, to some extent, the role of X-ray diffraction methods.
Keywords: new minerals, crystal structures, structure determination, X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction, symmetry, nomenclature.
Acknowledgements. I want to express my gratitude 1) to the people who were my mentors, and without them, I would not have become so interested in the crystal structures of minerals, namely Ivana Císařová (Charles University in Prague), who gave me my first more rigorous insights into crystal structures during my master’s studies, the late Jiří Čejka (National Museum in Prague), who made me all the time even more interested in crystal chemistry of uranium, and to Michal Dušek and Václav Petříček (both from Institute of Physics of the CAS in Prague), without whom I would not have a chance to grow scientifically and 2) to colleagues and friends, without their cooperation, my scientific studies would not be possible: Anatoly Kasatkin, Fabrizio Nestola, Nicolas Meisser, Stefan Ansermet, Jiří Sejkora, Radek Škoda, František Laufek, Vladislav Gurzhyi, Peter Burns, Ivan Němec, Simon Philippo, Travis Olds, and many others.
Conflict of interest. The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest.
For citation: Plášil J. Structure analysis of new mineral species: current state and perspectives. Mineralogy, 2026, 12(2), 25–30. https://doi.org/10.35597/2313-545X-2026-12-2-2

Received 28.04.2026, revised 10.05.2026, accepted 20.05.2026

Jakub Plášil – Doctor Sci., Senior Researcher, Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic; plasil@fzu.cz

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