Geological and Mineral Museum

Geological and Mineral Museum

The Geological and Mineral Museum serves as a popular science education base.

The predecessor of the Xinjiang Geological and Mineral Museum was the Xinjiang Geological and Mineral Exhibition Hall, which opened in September 1984. In 2002, a new building was constructed with special funds allocated by the autonomous region, and it was renamed to its current title. The new museum officially opened in May 2004 and was named one of the first batch of one hundred national popular science education bases. The new museum has a construction area of 8,400 square meters, an exhibition area of over 4,600 square meters, and houses approximately 20,000 specimens and models. The museum regularly holds popular science lectures, youth geoscience summer camps, and promotes scientific knowledge through activities such as Earth Day, Science Popularization Month, and Science Popularization Week. It also provides visiting services for patriotic religious figures and audiences with special identities.

Architectural Layout

The Xinjiang Geological and Mineral Museum is a comprehensive provincial geological science museum in China. It is located on Youhao Road in Urumqi, Xinjiang. The museum is a specialized exhibition venue introducing Xinjiang’s mineral exploration achievements and popularizing geoscience and related scientific knowledge. It is divided into five sections and seven exhibition halls, with rich and detailed content and vivid, colorful exhibits. The museum includes the Universe and Earth Hall, Life Evolution Hall, Metallic Minerals Hall, Non-metallic Minerals Hall, Energy Minerals Hall, Gem and Jade Hall, as well as the Tourism Geology and Environmental Geology Hall. The arrangement of the exhibition halls is systematic, and the content is comprehensive. This museum serves as an important window to understanding Xinjiang, inspiring people to love and build the region.

Collection

The museum houses over 12,000 mineral, rock, ore, and animal and plant fossil specimens, including more than 100 first-grade items. Among them are a crystal that is 1.7 meters long, 62 centimeters in diameter, and weighs about 780 kilograms; a round natural copper that is 35 centimeters in diameter, 25 centimeters thick, weighs 102 kilograms, and contains 99.84% copper; a 1.2-carat transparent diamond, the first of its kind from Xinjiang; large beryl and muscovite from the Altay pegmatite deposit; and the world-renowned Hetian jade, as well as various types of tourmaline and gemstones. There are also fossil specimens such as the Urumqi salamander, a complete amphibious vertebrate discovered in China for the first time in the summer of 1983, dating back 230 million years, and the Szechuanosaurus sueshi, a vertebrate fossil from 160 million years ago.

The museum features four exhibition halls: Earth Science, Xinjiang Minerals, Development and Utilization of Xinjiang Mineral Resources, and Geology Specialties. The total exhibition area is 2,400 square meters. It displays 115 out of the 121 types of minerals found in Xinjiang. The museum also organizes geoscience summer camps, conducts science outreach activities, and hosts specialized exhibitions to expand its service scope.

Development History

The Xinjiang Geological and Mineral Museum is a comprehensive provincial geological science museum in China. Its predecessor was the Geological Exhibition Room of the Xinjiang Geological Bureau. In 1964, it was renamed the Xinjiang Geological Exhibition Hall. In 1979, the exhibition building was rebuilt, and in 1982, it was renamed the Xinjiang Geological and Mineral Exhibition Hall. It officially opened to the public on October 1, 1984, and was renamed to its current title in August 1986.

The left hall of the Xinjiang Geological and Mineral Museum is the Universe and Earth Hall, which integrates scientific knowledge, popular science education, and science fiction hypotheses. The right hall, the Life Evolution Hall, uses a large number of fossil specimens and reconstructed ancient landscape models to promote materialist evolutionary views. The second and third floors are the Mineral Resources Halls, introducing metallic, non-metallic, energy minerals, and gem and jade minerals, respectively. The fourth floor houses the Tourism Geology Hall and the Environmental Geology Hall in a shared space. The Tourism Geology Hall features a huge sand table of Xinjiang’s tourism geology and six miniature landscape models of famous scenic spots, clearly presenting the main geological-related tourist routes, scenic overviews, and features of Xinjiang—all within the hall, allowing you to explore key sights without leaving the room.

Interior Exhibition Halls

Non-metallic Minerals Hall

The Non-metallic Minerals Hall accounts for more than two-thirds of all mineral types and features advantages such as great potential, ease of development, and significant value-added benefits. This hall offers a full range of non-metallic minerals, with abundant resources. Fourteen types of minerals—including sodium nitrate, potassium salt, vermiculite, and bentonite—rank at the forefront nationally in terms of reserves and resource volume. These not only meet regional market demands but also provide resource conditions for reform and opening-up, attracting foreign investment, and exporting for foreign exchange earnings.

Metallic Minerals Hall

Xinjiang is rich in mineral resources with tremendous development potential and serves as an important strategic reserve area for China’s mineral resources. This hall is divided into sections for ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals, precious metals, as well as rare, rare-earth, and dispersed elements. It displays ore specimens and their industrial products from over 50 types of minerals. The exhibits are abundant, and the models are grand and lifelike, making it an important place to learn about Xinjiang’s mineral resources.

Energy Minerals Hall

Charts outline the petroleum and natural gas resources of Xinjiang and the three major basins—Tarim, Junggar, and Turpan—as well as their development. Models briefly showcase the scenery of three oil fields: Tahe, Cainan, and Shanshan. A wide array of petrochemical products highlights the booming petrochemical industry in Xinjiang. A model of the Karez system also inspires reverence for the wisdom of ancestors. Additionally, the hall introduces achievements in coal and uranium mining.

Environmental Geology Hall

Nature has blessed us with abundant treasures and also created many beautiful landscapes in Xinjiang. Exquisite images and miniature landscape models bring people imagination and wonder.

Xinjiang faces a variety of geological hazards that can be highly destructive. This hall introduces several major types of environmental geology and their prevention measures, aiming to call on everyone to cherish resources and protect the environment—for today and for future generations.

Gem and Jade Hall

Gems, jade, and ornamental stones are part of mineral resources. Xinjiang has long been known as the “Land of Gold and Jade,” with abundant gem and jade mineral resources. The hall is uniquely arranged with an antique charm, displaying 21 categories and 48 varieties of gems known in Xinjiang, 13 categories and 21 varieties of jade, as well as a selection of ornamental stones with unique charm and rich emotional expression for visitors to appreciate.