In the 1980s, as the development and utilization of China’s nonmetallic mineral resources continued to grow and deepen, the term “mineral material” began to appear and gradually came into use. For a new thing like mineral material, how to clarify its concept and give a precise definition is particularly important for clarifying the research object, discipline connotation, and its relationship with other disciplines of mineral material, promoting the development of the mineral material industry and discipline. Therefore, since the appearance of the noun “mineral material,” there has been special attention from the industry on how to define the concept of mineral material. People try to understand and explain mineral materials from different perspectives. It can be said that the concept and definition of mineral material have always been a fundamental issue and research focus in the mineral material science. Based on the foundation of reviewing the research and development history of the concept of mineral materials in China, this section elaborates on the concept, connotation, and essence of mineral materials, as well as their distinctions and connections with other materials, based on the characteristics and laws of mineral materials themselves.