The planetary landers performed concrete chemical analysis of the soil in rocks to further identify and confirm the presence of other minerals.
The elemental and atmospheric composition along with planetary conditions is essential in knowing what minerals can be formed from these base parts.
[1] Chemical alteration of Martian rocks into carbonate and phyllosilicate minerals occurred earlier in Mars history when water was present in large quantities.
Mars Odyssey Launched in 2001, although it carried multiple instruments only Thermal Emission Imaging System was designed to look at minerals.
Mars Express Launched in 2003 the Visible and Infrared Mineralogical Mapping Spectrometer (OMEGA) observed montmorillonite and localized phyllosilicate minerals.
Spirit One of its instruments the Mössbauer spectrometer (MIMOS II) was designed to look at the iron bearing minerals on mars.
[5] Phoenix Lander Most noted for landing in a polar region, it carries the WCL (Wet Chemistry Laboratory), which is a part of the MECA (Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer) instrument suite.