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THE AUSTRALIAN GEMMOLOGIST | The New Minerals Exhibition at the Australian Museum

The New Minerals Exhibition at the Australian Museum

Ross Pogson BAppSc (Hons 1) MSc MAusIMM MRSN Scientific Officer Collection Manager, Mineralogy & Petrology |Geosciences & Archaeology| Life & Geosciences Group Manager, Geosciences & Archaeology
https://australian.museum/publications/minerals/

The new Minerals exhibition at the Australian Museum, Sydney, sets a new standard of excellence for such exhibitions in Australia and is a wonderful scientific and educational resource (Figure 1a, b; Pogson, 2022). It is part of the Museum’s transformative renovation and expansion made possible as part of Project Discover Stage Two, supported by the NSW Government, and opened on 9th December 2022 by the Honorable Ben Franklin MLC, then Minister for Tourism, Aboriginal Affairs, the Arts and Regional Youth. It is situated on Level One of the Museum and covers a floor area of approximately 350m2. The exhibition design, planning, construction and installation were conducted over a three year period.

The different themes in this permanent exhibition will appeal to all visitors from professional mineralogists and gemmologists to students at all educational levels, those who have an interest in the earth sciences, and those who simply enjoy the beauty of minerals: their variety, colours, shapes and symmetry. The exhibition shows a comprehensive 1800 specimen selection from the Museum’s mineral collection of over 60,700 items, as well as selected specimens from the collection of 19,300 rocks.

Many favourites from the 1986 Planet of Minerals gallery are still on display, together with superb display minerals acquired since 1986 and now shown for the first time. The display also includes some magnificent minerals which were part of pre-1986 displays and haven’t been shown for nearly fifty years. Special pieces, such as the large, polished slice of banded iron formation and oxidized copper ore from Western Australia, aquamarine crystals from Namibia, epidote crystals from Peru, and fluorite from England and China were acquired especially for this new exhibition.

This exhibition has great variety, with major themes such as Making Minerals, and Minerals and Us, with several sub-themes.

Figure 1a. Entrance to the new Minerals exhibition at the Australian Museum, College Street, Sydney.

Figure 1a. Entrance to the new Minerals exhibition at the Australian Museum, College Street, Sydney.

Figure 1b. Cabinet displays in the new Minerals exhibition.

Figure 1b. Cabinet displays in the new Minerals exhibition.

Figure 2. Spectacular banded iron formation, 437kg, Ord Ridley Ranges, Pilbara, Western Australia.

Figure 2. Spectacular banded iron formation, 437kg, Ord Ridley Ranges, Pilbara, Western Australia.

Figure 3. Beryl, aquamarine, Erongo Mountains, Namibia. The aquamarine crystals form in pegmatite veins, unusually rich in beryllium and boron, in host granite. Photo courtesy of Stuart Humphreys.

Figure 3. Beryl, aquamarine, Erongo Mountains, Namibia. The aquamarine crystals form in pegmatite veins, unusually rich in beryllium and boron, in host granite. Photo courtesy of Stuart Humphreys.

Figure 4. Molybdenite on quartz, Allies Mine, Deepwater, NSW, Australia.

Figure 4. Molybdenite on quartz, Allies Mine, Deepwater, NSW, Australia.

Figure 5. Pyrite crystals, Huanzala, Peru. Photo courtesy of Stuart Humphreys.

Foyer and Entrance Displays

As the exhibition is approached, visitors pass by a spectacular 2.5 x 1.5m polished slab of folded banded iron formation from Western Australia (Figure 2). A foyer display celebrates opal, a popular and much-loved gemstone with a special Australian connection.

Immediately in view is the Mineral Highlights display just inside the exhibition entrance. This large display certainly has a ‘wow-factor’ and attracts immediate attention due to its high quality and supreme attractiveness, with bright, sparkling colours and intriguing, sometimes very large crystal shapes (Figure 3). It shows the wide spectrum of variety in the mineral kingdom; several of these specimens such as the molybdenite from Deepwater, New South Wales are the best of their kind in the world (Figure 4).

Introduction

An Introductory Section introduces visitors to the building blocks of Earth, from elements to minerals to rocks, and how minerals are classified and identified. Some minerals occur as native elements such as gold, silver, mercury, diamond, graphite, copper, arsenic, bismuth, sulphur, osmiridium, antimony and tellurium, all shown with representative specimens. This section defines what a mineral is and guides visitors through physical properties of minerals assisted by specimen displays and interactive screens. Properties such as colour, streak, hardness, lustre, tenacity, cleavage and fracture are shown, with interactive specimens illustrating specific gravity and magnetism. An ultra-violet fluorescence display shows off this mysterious and colourful mineral property. A display of silica minerals features quartz in its many varieties, such as the always popular amethyst, smoky quartz and citrine, as well as chalcedony and agate. A large touch-specimen of granite is shown with samples of its individual mineral components.

Making Minerals

The Making Minerals theme covers eight key environments of mineral formation: sulphides and sulpho-salts; volcanism (including colourful agates and thunder eggs) and Australian zeolites and associates; hydrothermal minerals; evaporites; pegmatites; gossans; metamorphism; and cave minerals, using international and Australian specimens (for an example, see Figure 5). The cave mineral display features a 3-dimensional model with cave formations such as stalactites and stalagmites. Visitors will learn how and where minerals are formed, with the help of computer interactives embedded in a large representation of a cubic pyrite crystal group. Also shown are human-made minerals and gems, both laboratory grown or accidental.

Figure 6. Nephrite jade carving, Nurse with Goats, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China. Photo courtesy of Stuart Humphreys.

Figure 6. Nephrite jade carving, Nurse with Goats, Henan Province,
People’s Republic of China. Photo courtesy of Stuart Humphreys.

Figure 7. Topaz crystals, Alabaschka, Murzinika, Urals, Russia. Photo courtesy of Carl Bento.

Figure 7. Topaz crystals, Alabaschka, Murzinika, Urals, Russia.
Photo courtesy of Carl Bento.

Minerals and Us

Under the Minerals and Us theme visitors will see where minerals are found around Australia, with a wide range of displayed mineral species. Some themes cross state boundaries. The themes are the South Australian Copper Belt, Flinders Ranges and Olary, Victoria; the Eastern Australian Granite Belt through Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland, Far North Australia; Broken Hill, Consols Mine and Barrier Ranges; the Lachlan Fold Belt through Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland; the Pilbara and Yilgarn Blocks of Western Australia, and Harts Range, Northern Territory.

First Nation and later European uses of minerals and rocks are presented, with 19th Century exploration and mining leading to gold rushes and copper booms, including one copper find (Moonta, South Australia) assisted by a wombat. A range of historic replicas of famous Australian gold nuggets is displayed, as well as a range of gold nuggets and reef gold. Visitors can stand next to a replica of the famous “Holtermann Nugget” (really reef gold in quartz and slate) just like Bernard Holtermann standing proudly next to this replica.

Collecting and Collections

Acquisitions are made up of many sub-collections, built up over almost 200 years through field collecting, donations, purchases, exchanges and bequests. A selection of specimens from these sub-units is displayed, including those of Sir Douglas Mawson, Antarctic explorer; Albert Chapman and Warren Somerville, supreme and discriminating collectors of exquisite minerals; and Jack Taylor, co-founder of the Gemmological Association of Australia. Their specimens add variety and richness to our collections and displays.

For the first time in many decades, also showcased is a selection from the beautiful carved and ornamental mineral collection with international and Australian examples (Figure 6). Many of these wonderful examples of skillful lapidary art were purchased as early as 1878 and 1880.

A collection of mineral curiosities and oddities such as concretions with strange shapes, ‘bendable’ sandstone, sand melted by lightning strikes and iron rivets from an Anglo-Saxon ship burial, now turned to mineral rust, show another aspect of minerals.

‘Celebrity Minerals’ from the Albert Chapman collection, such as a Russian topaz (Figure 7), have a provenance that can be traced from one collector, mineral dealer or museum to another. A comparison of these irreplaceable mineral treasures can be made with Old Master paintings in the art world; they are the Rembrandts of the mineral kingdom with proven and traceable provenance. Many have recorded histories that extend over 150 years and stretch around the globe.

Survivors from Deep Time

Our meteorite display, including Lunar and Martian meteorites and the mysterious carbonaceous chondrites, reflects the broad scope of our world-wide meteorite collection, the oldest and one of the largest and most important in Australia. A wide range of Australian and overseas iron, stone and stony-iron meteorites is represented. On open display is the largest meteorite in our collection, a 600kg piece of the Mundrabilla iron meteorite from Western Australia. Together with examples of Earth’s oldest rocks and minerals, meteorites reveal information about how our Solar System formed. The display of impactites includes tektites which splashed up into Earth’s atmosphere due to meteorite impacts, and Earth-bound melted rocks resulting from such impacts. Designed for young visitors, there is a spaceship experience where they can explore ancient Earth rocks and meteorites from outer space.

Figure 8. Selection of gemstones and natural crystals on display.

Figure 8. Selection of gemstones and natural crystals on display.

Using Minerals

Minerals are needed for contemporary technological society, but their extraction often involves an environmental cost and impacts on climate change. Displays and videos reinforce how humans impact the Earth and how minerals impact humans, and our responsibilities to use recycling and mine site rehabilitation. Non-fossil fuel energy sources like wind turbines use storage batteries containing critical minerals, so there is a world-wide search for these mineral deposits. A range of minerals containing critical and rare earth elements is presented. Displays and interactive games show visitors what elements and minerals are used to make common household and technological items such as mobile phones, cars and aircraft.

Gemstones

Gemstones are shown in a spectacular and sparkling display showing faceted gems and natural gem crystals side-by-side, as well as polished opal cabochons (Figure 8). Well-known gems such as beryl (including aquamarine and heliodor), topaz, garnet, diamond, zircon, tourmaline, peridot, spodumene, chrysoberyl, spinel, titanite, sapphire and ruby, and the quartz family are shown, together with lesser-known and collector’s gems such as danburite, euclase, benitoite, fluorite, prehnite, rhodonite, rhodochrosite and scapolite. Colour ranges of faceted Australian sapphires, zircons and grossular garnets are a special feature. An unusual feature is a collection of faceted gemstones of minerals usually considered as metal ores: anglesite, cerussite, sphalerite, cuprite, cassiterite and crocoite (Figure 9). Due to their high refractive index and dispersion, they show spectacular ‘fire’.

There is truly something for everyone

Figure 9. Crocoite crystals, Adelaide Mine, Dundas, Tasmania, Australia. Photo courtesy of Stuart Humphreys.

Figure 9. Crocoite crystals, Adelaide Mine, Dundas, Tasmania, Australia. Photo courtesy of Stuart Humphreys.

Reference

Pogson, R., 2022. Mineral Icons of the Australian Museum. Sydney, The Australian Museum.

All images courtesy of Ross Pogson unless otherwise stated.

Editor’s Note: This is an abridged version of an article that appeared in the Australian Journal of Mineralogy, June 2023.

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