The Strunz mineral classification system was developed by Professor Hugo Strunz over a period of about 60 years, starting with the first edition of Mineralogische Tabellen published in Germany in 1941. The book has gone through a number of editions.

In this System, minerals are apportioned to nine Classes (8th edition), based on broad chemical groupings. Each Class is further broken down into Divisions based on more narrowly defined chemical criteria, and the Divisions are further subdivided into Subdivisions (or Families), and ultimately into Groups, based on crystal structure and chemical composition.

An alphanumeric coding system reflects the position of a mineral within the classification system:
 
8/E.01-10
8:
E:
01:
10:		 Silicates  (Class or Primary Group)
Cyclosilicates  (Division or Sub-Group)
Benitoite series  (Subdivision or mineral Family, Group or Series)
Benitoite  (specific mineral)
The first numeric digit (8/E.01-10) gives the Class or Primary Group to which the mineral belongs; the following alphabetic character (8/E.01-10) gives the Division or Sub-Group, the second set of numeric digits (8/E.01-10) gives the Subdivision or mineral Family, Group or Series, and the final set of numeric digits (8/E.01-10) (not shown in the chart below) is the specific mineral.