This book represents a collection of papers presented at the 1st International workshop "Minerals as Advanced Materials I" planned as an exchange of ideas between mineralogists and material scientists. The basic idea of the workshop was to identify minerals and mineral objects that have or potentially have unique physical, chemical and structural properties that are of interest from the viewpoint of applied mineralogy and material science. The topics covered include: zeolites, their natural occurrence, properties and applications; microporous and mesoporous mineral phases; layered mineral structures and composites; natural nanostructures (nanotubes, nanoclusters, nanocomposites, photonic crystals); biological minerals and biocompatible materials; minerals as actinide host matrices and other aspects of interactions between mineralogy and material sciences.