Royal Cornwall Museum unveils new mineral gallery with 12,000 samples

The Royal Cornwall Museum’s Mineral Gallery in the UK has reopened following a £476,000 renovation, with a mission to share the knowledge of Cornish mining and minerals.

Home to over one million artefacts, including the collection of more than 12,000 mineral samples, Royal Cornwall Museum is the caretaker of 3,500 years of mining history.  

The history of minerals and the vital role they perform in daily life is an important story. From agriculture to construction and health through to the technology we rely on, minerals underpin our modern world, and Cornwall is emerging once again as an important player in mineral extraction with the lithium industry.

“We probably don’t think about minerals very much and yet everything we do, every day relies on minerals. Humans do two things – we grow plants and nurture animals, and every other material we use comes from the minerals in the earth. Phones, gadgets, high-tech renewable energy devices, cars, trains, machinery – all rely on minerals,” Frances Wall, Professor of Applied Mineralogy at the Camborne School of Mines, said in a news release.  

Closed since January 2024 for redevelopment, the new space was designed with a vision to bring the story of the specimens to life, making geology accessible and engaging to an eclectic audience, narrating history in an immersive way.

Themes explored within the gallery include Deep Time (Geology), Minerals, Stone (Rock), Mining, Landscape, Climate and Environment, with the newly developed space divided into three narrative zones. The Orientation Zone introduces the core themes of the gallery; the North Zone is focused on the mineral samples; and the Digital Lab offers an immersive experience covering mining, minerals and rock, including mineral handling and audio stories that build on the case contents and the broader narratives.

With a unique geology, Cornwall has more varieties of minerals than anywhere else in Britain which have been mined and used for centuries, with the most important minerals for industry being tin and copper.  

“Cornwall has had a recent renaissance in its mining history. Since around 2016, we’ve had an influx of companies searching for minerals essential for applications including lithium-ion batteries and solder for electronics,” Dr. Eva Marquis, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Camborne School of Mines, said. 

“Royal Cornwall Museum’s collection not only gives a broad understanding of the processes that formed our planet, but also how we’re using those minerals to help with our climate change ambitions.”