Mining Museum

Saint-Petersburg Mining Museum

Established in 1773 under a decree of Catherine II.

The world’s third-largest natural-scientific exposition.

Among the museum’s collection are more than 230,000 exhibits, including rare minerals, gemstones and metals, the most extensive meteorite collection, historical and working models of mining equipment, paleontological finds, archive records.

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The exhibition of Ural stone-cutters in the Mining Museum was enriched with new exhibits

On Tuesday, 7 November, the Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University announced that the temporary exhibition "The Wealth of the Mineral Resources in the Art of Stone Carvers" has been enriched with new exhibits.

The Mining Museum learned how to move the Earth’s crust

Urban Sketchers Exhibition Opens at Mining Museum

An exhibition of the Urban Sketchers international community of artists began its work at the Mining Museum in St. Petersburg. The exhibition presents paintings in the technique of rapid drawing, depicting the interiors and exhibits of one of the largest natural science museums in the world.

St. Petersburg Mining Museum to Take Part in Russia-Wide Atlas Nefti Project

Pictures of historical exhibits from the Mining Museum will be included in the catalogue commemorating the 300th anniversary of the petroleum industry in Russia.

Mining University’s Students Recreate Antique Vases Using 3D Technology

St. Petersburg Mining Museum's researchers have recreated the look of rare 19th-century fluorite vases.

Classic-Type Museum to Die Out. Museums of a New Kind Making Billions of Dollars

It has been decades since museums, along with books and theatre, were foretold to cease to exist. COVID-19 has indeed contributed to the debate regarding the "things of the past".

Всем здравствуйте! Может кто знает что-нибудь о биографии Черткова Анатолия Филатовича? Он был маркшейдером, учавствовал в строительстве тоннеля секретного под Амуром в 1937 году. Очень нужна информация ,спасибо!

’Jurassic Park’ in St. Petersburg

To get an idea of how Earth looked like in the distant past, one just has to look attentively at today's living creatures. Some ancient animals still resemble their progenitors. Some organisms are no longer found. The others have survived without losing their original form.

Student geological expedition opened the season

The scientific team, created in February 2021 on the basis of the Department of Geology and Exploration of Mineral Deposits and the Mining Museum, returned from its first field trip to the Putilovsky open pit.

Mining University celebrates Victory Day

On the eve of Victory Day, a wreath-laying ceremony took place at the oldest technical university in Russia. Wreaths and flowers were laid at the foot of the memorial to the students and professors who died during the Great Patriotic War.

Mining Museum during the Siege of Leningrad

In 1918, the Soviet government relocated from Petrograd to Moscow. Subsequently, some of the Mining Museum's most valuable objects were transferred to the Diamond Fund, which did not, however, stop the natural-scientific repository from replenishing its collections.

Virtual Tour of the Mining Museum in St. Petersburg

The Mining Museum in St. Petersburg is three years older than America, while Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia, can be considered the Museum’s rightful mother. Now by its size, it is the world’s third-largest natural-scientific exposition gathered in a building designed by Russian architect Andrey Voronikhin.

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Harzburgite: a symbol of Germany’s attraction to Russia

World War I halted Russian-German friendship for eight long years of bloodshed and mutual distrust. The Rapallo Treaty of April 1922 restored normal relations, and the credit for this went not to politicians, but to men of action. Such as the German scientist and businessman Friedrich Kranz.

Where on Earth are the deepest sinkholes

Living on the edge of a hole 240 meters deep and nearly half a kilometer in diameter is a dubious joy, but the residents of the South African town of Kimberley are quite happy. Their "Big Hole" is the world's oldest primary diamond deposit. From 1872 to 1914 it yielded three tons of the hardest and most expensive stone (14.5 million carats).

How the study of glacial boulders led Kropotkin to imprisonment in the Peter and Paul Fortress

Back in the second half of the 19th century, most geographers believed that about 10,000 years ago the territory of modern Russia was a "sea across which ice blocks were carried, leaving erratic boulders when they melted" (from a historical sketch by Vladimir Obruchev).

The hypothesis of the origin of the sorcerer Melchior and the alloy of the same name

The patent for melchior - an alloy of copper and nickel - was received by the French in 1827. The name was later given to it by the Germans. They caught the consonance in the pronunciation of the names of the inventors Mayo and Saurier with the name of the Evangelical sorcerer. It is customary to give primacy in obtaining "cheap silver" to the Chinese.

What did the author of “Sannikov Land” find in the Kazakh steppes

The Dzungarian Gate is a corridor, 50 kilometers long and 10 kilometers wide, between the mountain systems of the Altai and Tien Shan, the most important section of the main branch of the Great Silk Road. Here is the continental pole of the planet - the point of greatest distance from the world ocean.

How was the blue color reference obtained

Fourteen years ago, for the first time in 200 years, there was a new blue pigment. Scientists at the University of Oregon were experimenting with materials for electronics and unexpectedly received an inorganic compound with a rich blues color. It turned out that it is practically non-fading and, unlike its predecessor, cobalt, is not toxic.

How the poet Nekrasov, with the help of a bear, reasoned with the emperor

Alexander II personally harvested 150 bears during his not particularly long life. Some of the trophies went to the participants of the hunt, others were used as diplomatic gifts or donated to museums and educational institutions. The bear killed on 9 March 1865 in Lisino near St.

Why did Count Vorontsov needed the strongest walls in the world

Cobblestones, with the light hand of sculptor Ivan Shadr, are associated with the weapons of the proletariat. During the revolutionary events of 1917, all Moscow sidewalks, including Red Square, were paved with such stones. Today's heavy-duty diabase appeared on it only in 1930.

Why Russia starts near Minusinsk

The history of non-ferrous metallurgy in the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory began not with the construction of a refinery in 1941, and not with the commissioning of one of the world's largest aluminum plants in the mid-1960s. The first bronze items were cast here by the Iranian-speaking Tagars long before the heyday of ancient Athens, in the 7th century BC.

How Madagascar bandits helped to modernize the mint of St. Petersburg

Russian monarchs thought broadly, but often dependently. For example, Peter the Great adopted from the British East India Company not only the scheme for building shipyards for St. Petersburg, but also the strategy of expansion to Asia and Africa. In chess, copying the moves of a stronger opponent will never lead to victory, but in politics this method can sometimes give unexpected results.

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Where is the evidence to prove that the bison is not an aurochs?

The law on regulation of hunting in the Russian Empire (1892) was still 90 years away, when the Emperor Alexander I took over the role of an official in issuing permits for shooting wild animals. It is true that such an order concerned only one area, Belovezhskaya Forest, and one species, the bison (or Bison bonasus in scientific jurisprudence). By the beginning of the 19th century, the vastest tract of forest in Europe remained the only place where these bison could live.

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The forgotten legend of the Russian military-industrial complex

The Kalashnikov assault rifle is widely known throughout the world - in a sense, it has become one of Russia's symbols, along with bears, black caviar and oil. The most widespread small arms in service in one hundred and six countries are included in the Guinness Book of Records: more than 100 million units have been produced to date.

The man every chemist in the country worked for

Despite the fact that chemistry begins to be studied in the eighth grade and is indispensable in dozens of industries that are crucial for the economy, if an ordinary Russian is asked to name the names of great Russian chemists, the vast majority will limit themselves to Lomonosov and Mendeleev. Only a small part would add a third name - Academician Nikolai Kurnakov.

How a Pole enriched Russia

Russia is often referred to as a raw material country, giving this concept a negative meaning. They say that the subsoil is rich in minerals, but there are problems with value chains.

The Mother of the Polar Expedition and Grandmother of Marine Geophysics

The Arctic, its harsh nature and complex organizational and technical conditions have always attracted men. To work at drifting stations with the risk of being in icy water at any moment, to drive worn-out all-terrain vehicles in a snowstorm to the next survey, to drill wells in the ice...

How a White Guardsman Obtained the Stalin Prize and Became Director of MISIS Institute

The number of people who left Russia after the Civil War of 1917 reaches 2.5 million. For the most part, they were military, scientists, doctors, teachers, engineers, in general, intellectuals - creative, humanitarian and technical.

The “grandfather” of Russian railroads

The railroad complex in Russia is one of the largest in the world. It ranks second in terms of total track length, second only to the USA.

Vladimir Abazarov: “Take Megion oil, Motherland!”

The discovery of the largest field in Russia and the seventh largest in the world, called Samotlor, was a resounding victory for Russian geologists and drillers in 1965. At that time, few believed in the prospects of an oil deposit located under a huge lake, surrounded for many kilometres by impassable swamps.

Who in Russia was called “the miner’s general”

Today, business coaches often hear the "cautionary tale of the life of Parkes Cadman", who lived at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. A boy from a poor family, from the age of 11 he was forced to work in a mine as a "ponyboy" - driving a coal wagon.

How the director of the Geological Institute of the Academy of Sciences got on the pages of Solzhenitsyn’s novel

In 1949, the investigation of a large group of geologists, called the "Krasnoyarsk Case", resounded throughout the USSR. Twenty-seven people, including 4 academicians and corresponding members of the USSR Academy of Sciences and 10 professors, doctors of geological and mineralogical sciences, were put under investigation.

The Incredible Story of Mr. Mechanobre

His name was known and treated with great reverence by the heads of the largest mining and processing and metallurgical plants in the country, rectors of the relevant universities, and representatives of the academic community. And how not to know - machines of his design work today in at least 40 countries of the world.

Emeralds in Mining Museum. Video Collection

In The Tale of Tsar Saltan, Alexander Pushkin wrote about a squirrel cracking wondrous nuts. It is not by chance that the gemstones appeared in the fairy tale. In August 1931, when Pushkin finalised his poem, Saint Petersburg had been already taken over by the ’emerald fever’.

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’Jurassic Park’ in St. Petersburg

To get an idea of how Earth looked like in the distant past, one just has to look attentively at today’s living creatures. Some ancient animals still resemble their progenitors. Some organisms are no longer found. The others have survived without losing their original form.

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→ Vernissage

Mysteries of the Mining Museum: The two caskets of the Empress

Queen Elizabeth II often wears a diamond tiara. She also wears a collar of pearls and diamonds. Another favourite of hers is the brooch with a cabochon-cut sapphire and a drop-shaped pearl pendant, which she wore during a state visit to Russia in 1994. From Maria Feodorovna she has also a brooch with a huge sapphire and large diamonds.

Secrets of the Mining Museum: The Metal Saboteur

What is the job of the Special Forces? Quickly and, most importantly, to effectively carry out operations "with little blood on foreign territory". Palladium is capable of such a blow to the gold.

Mystical Riddle of Florentine Box

Amongst St. Petersburg Mining Museum exhibits, there is a unique 18th-century box. Its history is intertwined with both the Italian Medici family and the royal dynasty of the Russian Empire.

Silver-Induced Disease

Having silverware at home was at all times regarded as a sign of prosperity and luxuriousness. Kitchen utensils made of precious metal symbolised that their owner was of blue blood, which is somewhat surprisingly not a figurative expression. Often people who had expensive silver services turned blue literally.

Agressive Pearl-Bearing Clam

A hundred years ago or so, people risked their lives to get their hands on pearls. Not only it was dangerous to dive without gear, but some giant molluscs could grow that big they could actually kill.

Bribes Paid in Copper Were Once Customary in Russia

Two hundred years ago, the gold fever took Russia by storm. Hereditary nobility, merchant adventurers, ordinary people — everyone was leaving their settlements, abandoning their routine life, and heading straight to Siberia. These events followed the Senate edict allowing to freely look for and mine precious metals.

The Metal That Costs More Than Gold

Some 500 years ago, Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro captured the last Incan emperor Atahualpa. Although a ransom for Atahualpa's release was paid with gold, the emperor was still executed. Soon the conquest of Peru was completed; the indigenous people kept fighting off for a few more decades, but the Spanish had firearms in their hands. This drew a final line under the invasion of the country.

Fancy ’Diamonds’ for the Poor

Few people know why d'Artagnan duelled Athos and Aramis, whilst everyone knows the story of Porthos. The Gascon found himself entangled in Porthos' cloak and thereby learnt that a sumptuous dressing embroidered with gold was made of buffalo leather.

What Size Was the Prehistoric Dragonfly?

The unresolved mysteries of evolution are still there to solve them. Many evolution stages have not been fully understood yet, and humankind seeks to find answers to what animals that lived on our planet millions of years ago looked like.

Russian Mineral-Resource Sector’s Coat of Arms

The term 'coat of arms' can be traced back to the 12th century, with the start of heraldic tradition arising from the Crusades. The crusaders were dealing with the self-identification issues at the time - they needed to know who was the one who accomplished the 'feat' and who was who on a level resembling modern 'friend-or-foe' systems.

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The Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University is celebrating its 250th anniversary. On the eve of this event, the British rating agency Times Higher Education (THE) included it in the top 100 best higher education institutions in the world in terms of financial income from the implementation of its research activities in production per employee.

What scientific achievements of the scientists of St. Petersburg Mining University became the most significant for Russia

The Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University is celebrating its 250th anniversary. Today, Russia's first institution of higher technical education is not only a forge of personnel for companies in the mineral resources sector, but also one of the country's largest scientific clusters.

Vladimir Litvinenko: “The mission of St. Petersburg Mining University is to contribute to the prosperity of Russia”

On Wednesday, 1 November, St. Petersburg Mining University will celebrate a significant date - 250 years since its foundation. Despite its advanced age, Russia's first technical university is a modern institution of higher education that has introduced many advanced technologies, including augmented and virtual reality.

Vladimir Litvinenko at a meeting of the Presidium of the State Council proposed to triple the number of postgraduate students in Russia

Among the main problems hindering Russia's economic development, the rector of the Mining University named the shortage of engineering personnel in the raw materials sector and the low level of young scientists studying at postgraduate programs.

Ugra became a reference region of the UNESCO Centre of Excellence in Oil and Gas under the auspices of UNESCO

The Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug will develop professional standards for the industry, as well as mechanisms for effective implementation of innovations at mining and processing enterprises.

Vladimir Litvinenko: “A revolutionary exit from the Bologna Process is impossible”

Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, said that our country should start the procedure of withdrawal from the Bologna process and develop its own system of training graduates. How relevant is the next reform of higher education today? And has the introduction of Western standards really lowered the level of graduates of domestic universities?

The St. Petersburg Mining University told about how they will improve the competences of students

A new structural unit, the Department of Practical Skills and Experience, has been established at the Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University. Its mission will be to improve the efficiency of practical training and assist students in mastering programmes of additional professional competencies (APC).

How the director of the Geological Institute of the Academy of Sciences got on the pages of Solzhenitsyn’s novel

Vladimir Litvinenko told ambassadors from 11 Latin American countries about the need for state regulation in the raw materials sector

On the 319th anniversary of the founding of the city on the Neva, a delegation of Ambassadors of Latin America came to the St. Petersburg Mining University on a working visit.

Russia and Europe: Are There Prospects?

Many people feel understandable psychological and cultural discomfort with our political and geopolitical break with Europe. It would be more accurate to say, with the West, because Oswald Spengler in his "The Decline of the Western World" no less justifiably wrote that Europe is "an empty sound" and that in cultural and civilisational terms we can speak only of the West and Russia.

How a certificate from the Mining University becomes a competitive advantage in China’s labor market

The International Autumn School "Modern Mining Technologies" has come to an end at the St. Petersburg Mining University, where 70 students and teachers from the Chinese University of Mining Engineering and Technology (CUMT) improved their profile competences. The friendly country is eager to adopt Russia's rich experience in mining.

Rector of Cuba’s University of Moa: “Our relations with Russia have always been special”

Will our universities, thanks to the improvement of the higher education system, become real social lifts? And would this work on the West?

It is no secret that in recent years or even decades, the value of a diploma of higher education has noticeably decreased. If earlier this document confirmed that its holder had received both fundamental, basic knowledge and competences necessary for further professional growth, today, in fact, it has turned into a mandatory "certificate" for employment.

Why Chinese professors welcome the reform of higher education in Russia

In March 2023, the heads of the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China met, resulting in a joint statement by the presidents on "deepening relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation entering a new era." The key areas of co-operation included education and science as the basis for the dynamic development of any state.

The Incredible Story of Mr. Mechanobre

Petersburg scientists to name the cause of the mass death of dinosaurs in Kemerovo

Scientists from St. Petersburg Mining University joined the study of the Early Cretaceous complex of Shestakovo locations in the Kemerovo region, where new species of dinosaurs were found.

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The Fish Civilization

The first man appeared on earth two and a half million years ago. And the first fish appeared 450 million years ago, in what is now called the Devonian period. That was the time when four-ton sharks came ashore to turn into crocodiles in another two hundred million years. Or well, at least that’s what researchers of prehistoric and even ”pre-dinosaur” eras claim.

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The Mining Museum learned how to move the Earth’s crust

It took hundreds of millions of years for geological processes to form a single supercontinent, Pangea, in the Late Paleozoic. About 220 million years ago, it split in two. Today, the six continents on Earth are very slowly but surely moving toward each other. The Mining Museum now has the opportunity to visualize the history of the Earth’s crust and its dynamics in the future, as well as many other natural processes on the Earth and other planets with its new acquisition - a digital demonstration complex with a spherical screen.

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Mysteries of the Mining Museum: The two caskets of the Empress

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Secrets of the Mining Museum: The Metal Saboteur

What is the job of the Special Forces? Quickly and, most importantly, to effectively carry out operations ”with little blood on foreign territory”. Palladium is capable of such a blow to the gold. It is as simple as that. Only two percent of this light platinum is enough to make the ginger, stainless equivalent of human greed lose its color forever; and turn into white gold instead. And, oddly enough, this ability of element 46 of the Mendeleev Table is encoded in its name.

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The Black Stone of the White Nights

St Petersburg is, by many reasons, the peak of the summer solstice. Regardless of what they might say, people come here not for the natural phenomenon of the White Nights (as the days are even brighter in Murmansk) but for the magic of the ”patterns of the cast-iron fences”. This, as much in Russian history, would be impossible without Alexander Pushkin, without master foundry workers and without the main component of the aerial lattices.

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St. Petersburg Mining Museum to Take Part in Russia-Wide Atlas Nefti Project

Pictures of historical exhibits from the Mining Museum will be included in the catalogue commemorating the 300th anniversary of the petroleum industry in Russia.

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Mining Museum during the Siege of Leningrad

In 1918, the Soviet government relocated from Petrograd to Moscow. Subsequently, some of the Mining Museum’s most valuable objects were transferred to the Diamond Fund, which did not, however, stop the natural-scientific repository from replenishing its collections. By early 1941, the Museum had accumulated 130,014 exhibits, of which 25,540 were on display - samples of minerals, rocks and fossils, models and prototypes of mining and metallurgical equipment. The Mining Museum was highly popular at the time, by no means inferior to the Hermitage or Tsarskoye Selo.

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Off the Tsar’s Shoulder - History of Replenishing Mining Museum’s Collections

In 1816 - 205 years ago - Empress Catherine the Great signed a decree on transferring her private collection of minerals from the Hermitage to the Mining Museum. The collectables were mentioned as far back as in the first guide to St. Petersburg. Yet, they have remained mixed with the rest of the exhibits for almost two centuries, with some of the items ending up gifted to other museums.

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