Science and technics

Topaz is a semi-precious stone, essentially a mineral of the silicate group. The name takes us back to ancient name of the Zabargad island (off the coast of Egypt) - Topazios. Initially only golden-brownish stones were considered topazes. However, natural color of these minerals varies a lot. The Mining Museum collection showcases topazes from different deposits in Russia. Among them you will find cyan-colored topazes with morion and albite from classic pegmatite mines of Ural’s Murzynka as well as mesmerizing blue and smoky topazes from Volyn.

Nine scientists from South Africa participated in International European Symposium EUROCK 2018. All in all, over 400 scientists and practitioners from 50 nations such as Australia, Germany, Canada, China, Norway, USA and other took part in this year forum held at Saint-Petersburg Mining University. The participants shared thoughts and experiences on development and incorporation of advanced technologies in designing and safely exploiting the mining facilities.

Professors Johannes Schenk and Stefan Vöth visited Saint Petersburg Mining University to give lectures to students on ”Kinetics of heterogeneous processes” and ”The use of modern lifting technology in mining transport systems”.

Teachers of the Department of General Electrical Engineering, Department of Electric Power and Electromechanics, Department of Automation of Manufacturing Procedures and Manufactures visited Siemens’ research and development centers as well as production sites in four German cities. Cooperation of the parties was carried out in the frame of International Competence Centre for Mining-Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO.

Technical malfunction on gas distributing station in Austria resulted in gas explosion which caused cessation of gas deliveries to several European countries. Will this be a signal leading to a more active development of renewable sources of power?