Hejinina: "Oppen experienced a sense of wonder (and thus, one has to assume, something we could call happiness or, to use his phrase, 'pure joy') from the sheer mineral fact of existence" (95)
The phrase "mineral fact" possibly originates in Oppen's notebooks (on an "undated piece of paper"), initially remarking on an aspect of reality that Sartre is "so conscious" of (see 95)
"The term [...] first appears in Oppen's published work in the opening section of 'A Language of New York' and then in 'Of Being Numerous,' the expanded and reoriented version of 'A Language of New York'"
in both version is it paired with the phrase "pure joy"
Hejinian 96-7: "Just what Oppen means by 'mineral' seems clear in the context [...] The mineral fact neither requires nor responds to explanation; it is beyond causation. This does not mean that it is transcendent; it is merely obdurate."