Crystalline inorganic oxides displaying bright colours attracted much attention from early days for applications such as gemstones and pigments.[1] A scientific inquiry into the origin of colours of inorganic solids is essential for a rational design and synthesis of coloured materials. While there are several causes for the colour of solids, the main factor that causes colour in an inorganic oxide containing transition metal ion is the electronic transitions within the partially filled d-states arising from the ligand field effects around the transition metal ion. Transition metal ions in less symmetric geometries such as distorted octahedral and five-fold coordinated (square pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal) geometries produce colours different from those in regular octahedral and tetrahedral geometries in materials. Many known crystal structures have been explored over the years in the development of important colored compounds. The largest family of structures that are known, those of minerals, have not been given much attention to developing new inorganic pigments. Over the years, we have explored many mineral structures as possible host (chromophore) towards developing new and interesting-colored compounds. In addition, we have explored mineral structures for developing white-light emission using minimal use of rare-earth ions. The present talk would address some of these issues and our efforts towards identifying new chromophores employing transition metal chemistry in mineral structures.[2]