The course aims to address problems related to the extraction, refinery and use of mineral resources in human activities. A mineral-based approach will be applied to describe properties of non-metallic, inorganic minerals employed in the manufacturing of man-made artifacts, as pigments, fired minerals (glass, ceramics, bricks), hydrated minerals materials (cements, plasters, stucco), cut and polished minerals (gems) and geopolymers. The changes in mineralogical composition due to manufacturing and degradation processes will be investigated. The theoretical and practical bases of analytical techniques for elemental and phase analysis, structure analysis, reconstruction of ancient technological processes, tracing of the material sources, understanding of weathering processes will be finally provided.