Del Río was a significant pioneer in New World mineralogy. He studied in Freiberg under Werner, meeting Humboldt (a good friend and later an important collaborator) there. He also studied under Lavoisier, and worked together with Haüy, the founder of crystallography. Despite their friendship, del Río rather unfairly found it impossible to forgive Humboldt for his failure to recognise his discovery of the new element to be known as vanadium.