Kseniia Pavlova

The first thing a person probably pays attention to when gets to see a mineral is its color. It also plays a major role in defining the stone’s value. But what if the stone is able to change its appearance and may change from emerald to ruby right in front of your own eyes? As a matter of fact, a mineral in possession of such a rare feature was considered an asset of the premium quality in the Soviet Union. Throughout the whole period of existence of the USSR, there was not a single natural sample sold. Discovery of each mineral was also monitored closely. Moreover, even now many Russians are not aware that their grandmothers' jewels, kept as family relics, are nothing but the finely crafted by the Government fakes.

Over the past 20 years, the global petrochemical industry has seen steady growth - up to 7% per year. What about Russia though? Will we stand the competition with the countries as Saudi Arabia, the US and the others who invest billions of dollars in the industry?

Beauty is power. Surprisingly, the same statement may be applied with success to the world of minerals. At all times, people were ready to do a lot to gain natural wealth. Thus, to get their hands on one of the most beautiful gems on the planet, people were killing, betraying and plotting against each other at the state-level scale.

Students of Lanzhou University of Technology came to the Mining University to participate in the International Summer School, named ”Modern Energy Technologies”. Last summer, both undergraduate and postgraduate students from Chinese university took training within exactly the same programme. Upon finishing their internship, they admitted being impressed by Saint-Petersburg as well as by the studies themselves. This year, three groups of students - over a hundred people - participated in the programme.

Until the middle of the twentieth century, mankind was unaware of the existence of this stone. During the next twenty years, the mineral had no official name, and American and Russian scientists were fighting for the right to be considered its discoverers.

It has been a second year in a row for students of the AGH University of Science and Technology (Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza im. Stanisława Staszica w Krakowie) at the Mining University. For the second time as well, they have chosen the two week-long international summer school programme "Modern Technologies of Drilling Wells, Transport and Storage of Oil & Gas."

Among the most expensive minerals on earth are diamonds, sapphires, rubies, platinum and gold. The majority of people on this planet would consider owning these precious metals and stones as a sign of prosperity. However, 1.4 billion Chinese are unlikely to share the same opinion.

Students from Hanoi University in Vietnam and Taiyuan University of Technology (TUT) in China came to the Mining University to participate in the International Summer School programme, named "Underground Coal Mining”.

Andradite is a mineral which to a great extent resembles pomegranate seeds in appearance. However, while almost everyone had a taste of the fruit with wine-coloured seeds inside it, not everyone was lucky to to hold the stone in the hands.

Lapis lazuli is a mineral that very rarely takes the form of individual crystals but rather often forms dense granular masses. As per colour, the mineral can be turquoise, aquamarine, purple, at times also blue or green.

Students of the Lebanese International University came to Saint-Petersburg to participate in the summer school program of the Mining University, called "Geodetic Engineering: Theory and Practice". On the completion of the education, they shared their impressions and explained why they decided to be trained here for a second year in a row.