Trade Shows
62 | 63
Expominer
International Mineral, Fossil and Jewellery Exhibition
14-16/November
Montjuïc. 36th edition
Expominer featured 115 exhibitors from 16
countries and was, once more, the largest
show for this specialised sector on our
country, offering visitors the chance to buy or
exchange minerals, precious and semiprecious
stones, gems, fossils and – on this occasion –
spectacular meteorites weighing 30 and 50 kilos.
Besides being an important platform for
boosting trade and collecting, year after year the
show enables society as a whole and students
in particular to learn more about geology
and minerals. Last year, Expominer joined in
with celebrations for the International Year of
Crystallography by launching several Initiatives,
including an exhibition on this scientific field, which
is little-known despite its common applications in
cosmetics, food and drink, the new technologies,
etc. Workshops on making crystals were also
organised in cooperation with the University of
Barcelona Geology Faculty, and an introductory
manual on this subject was published.
Another novelty was the exhibition "Minerals
of the Mediterranean", which featured more than
230 specimens from sites located in areas of the
Iberian peninsula that are (or once were) bathed
by the Mediterranean Sea. Amongst others,
there were barites, sphalerites and galenites
from Cartagena-La Unión (Murcia), amethyst
quartz crystals from Sils (Girona) and a huge
exemplar of crystallised gypsum from Fuentes
de Ebro (Saragossa). The exhibits came from
leading private collections and were loaned to
Expominer throughout the period of the show.
The programme of activities was completed
by lectures, workshops and exhibitions. The
most popular was "Live Geology", a workshop
on gems, volcanic eruptions and strategic
minerals organised by the Geology Faculty of
the University of Barcelona.
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+info
Area
5,500 m
2
Exhibitors
115
Type
Professional and public
Activities
Workshops,
conferences, exhibitions,
geological photography
competition
230
mediterranean minerals
