NEW systematic minerals display officially opened

摘要

The new systematic minerals display of the Geoscience Museum was officially opened on 15 May 2003. Professor Sybrand De Waal, Head: Department of Geoscience of the University of Pretoria and a Board Member of the CGS, delivered the key-note address at the opening function which took place at the Transvaal Museum in Pretoria. The minerals, selected from a world-class collection, are arranged according to the Dana classification system first published in 1892 (i.e. native elements such as gold, silicates, sulfides, oxides, phosphates etc). the display illustrates the importance and abundance of minerals in certain natural environments in the earth. The display is unique in that it captures the vital role of minerals in the cycle of life, namely how minerals are formed in the earth, how they drawn up by plants that are then ingested by animals and humans, and how the minerals finally return to their source when these plants, animals and humans die and become part of the earth again.