Before 2007 the Geology Education Museum (GEM) formed part of the School of Geological Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It was initially opened in 1948 by Professor L.C. King to house rock, mineral and fossil collections. It is now part of the Science and Technology Education Centre (STEC@UKZN).
As the only Geological Museum in KwaZulu-Natal, we provide displays pertaining to the high school geography syllabus, ranging from a basic introduction to minerals and rocks, to the fields of Economic Geology and Palaeontology. Rocks, fossils and mineral samples from KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa are intended to promote an awareness to our unique geological surrounding.
Visitors to the Museum have “hands-on” contact with minerals and rocks, can look down microscopes and sort fossils.
The rock collection consists of representative rock samples form a lot of type geological areas in South Africa, including samples of host rocks of the major ore deposits in the country, e.g. Barberton and Witwatersrand gold mining areas, and the Bushveld Igneous Complex, where the majority of our chromite and platinum ore comes from. We also have a selection of meteorites on display.
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| Conglomerate Witwatersrand | Kimberlite, Lesotho | Mudcracks, Hartbeesfontein | Pallasite, Chile |
The mineral collection is large and varied, and includes samples of all major rock-forming minerals, as well as many less common minerals. We also house a wide range of ores which are mined especially in South Africa.
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| Amethyst | Calcite, Durban | Azurite with Malachite | Baryte |
Our fossil collection focuses mainly on fossils from KwaZulu-Natal. It includes a large variety of ammonites, mammal like reptiles like lystrosaurus and plant fossils such as glossopteris. Part of this collection is a130 000 year old elephant tusk from Durban.
We also house a collection of Silurian fossils from Gotland which have been collected by E.C.N. van Hoepen over one hundred years ago..
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| Ammonite | Lystrosaurus skull, KZN | Glossopteris, KZN | Mortoniceras, KZN |
