The purpose of the methodological manual is to present the basics of mineralogy that are necessary in the scope of programs for geological associations and preparing children for republican and Russian geological olympiads. The manual explains the basic concepts of mineralogy, describes the forms of finding minerals in nature, describes the main diagnostic properties of minerals, gives their classification, describes the most common minerals of each class, gives a determinant, and also gives interesting information about obsolete names of minerals, methods of growing crystals at home. At the end of the manual, the conditions for holding competitions in mineralogy of various levels are given.