Title: From Elements to Minerals: Evaluating Elemental Datasets for Mineralogical Modeling—Pros, Cons, and Case Studies Abstract: The acquisition of bulk elemental data from rock samples, both in laboratory settings and at the wellsite, is a widely used and cost-effective method for characterizing rock composition. However, a key limitation of this approach remains: elemental measurements do not directly translate into mineralogical compositions.

Mineralogical data are essential inputs for petrophysical and geomechanical models, creating a strong incentive to derive mineral compositions from elemental datasets. While this approach can be highly effective—particularly for rapid insights at the wellsite—it is inherently complex. Individual elements may be distributed across multiple mineral phases, and different mineral assemblages can equally satisfy the same elemental constraints. As a result, mineralogical modeling from elemental data is not simply a calculation, it is an interpretive process that requires careful assumptions, calibration, and geological validation.

When converting elemental data into mineralogical interpretations,…