[3][4] Having resided at Carlton House Terrace off Pall Mall in St James's in central London since 2002,[5] the institute moved to 297 Euston Road on 30 June 2015.

[6] Members qualify for different grades of membership, ranging from Affiliate to Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM),[7] depending on academic qualifications and professional experience.

[8] Approximately 25 UK 'local societies' are affiliated with the institute, covering a wide range of disciplines such as ceramics, composites, mining, packaging, polymers, and metallurgy, and organizing events throughout the year.

[13] The institute ensures that courses in materials, minerals, mining technology and engineering conform to the standards for professional registration with the Engineering Council UK which establishes codes of practice and monitors legislative matters affecting members' professional interests.

The institute also offers a series of grants and bursaries to encourage students and organizes events such as the Young Persons' Lecture Competition.

The institute also publishes ICON, incorporating IMMAGE (Information on Mining, Metallurgy and Geological Exploration), a reference database of abstracts and citations of scientific and engineering literature for the international minerals industry, and it has links to OneMine, a database of mining publications.

Editorially, it embraces the whole spectrum of materials and minerals – metals, plastics, polymers, rubber, composites, ceramics and glasses – with particular emphasis on advanced technologies, latest developments and new applications, giving prominence to the topics that are of fundamental importance to those in the industry.

Companies can gain access to the institute's information resources by joining its Business Partner Program Scheme.