The National Earth Science Museum in the directorate of Geological Survey is the primary repository of geological specimens in Namibia and houses a large collection of rocks, minerals and fossils.
The economic mineral deposits of Namibia are represented by displays of various operating mines and exploration prospects;
Tsumeb poly-metallic deposit
Kombat copper/lead/silver
Rössing alaskite uranium
Navachab skarn gold
Otjihase copper/pyrite
Rosh Pinah lead/zinc
and Huab porphyry copper prospect
The world famous Tsumeb poly-metallic ore body (Pb, Cu, Zn, Ag, As, Sb, Cd, Co, Ge, Ga, Fe, Hg, Mo, Ni, Sn, W, V) hosts some 226 minerals, 40 of which are unique to Tsumeb. Following the closure of the mine in 1996 and the liquidation of the parent company in 1998, the Tsumeb collection was donated to the nation by Gold Fields Namibia Limited and forms the basis of an outstanding mineral collection that also includes a variety of semi-precious stones found in Namibia.
The industrial minerals displays illustrate their varied, and often unknown, uses by showing the raw minerals together with products derived from them. These include;
in the bathroom (ceramics, toiletries, detergents etc.)
vehicle production (plastics, paint, etc.)
clays (ceramics, bricks, pottery, etc.)
Namcor, Namibia's oil and gas parastatal, has displays on the hydrocarbon exploration and development, including the 2.0 trillion cubic feet Kudu Gas Fields (off-shore southern Namibia) which is currently in final feasibility stage.
The most extensive meteorite shower on earth is found in southern Namibia near the village of Gibeon. The meteorites are classified as octahedrites and consist entirely of taenite and kamacite in a classical Widmanstatten structure. A total of 77 pieces have been found to date and as they have almost identical compositions they are thought to initially been part of one large 15 ton body.
The largest fragment weighs 650 kg and is housed in the South African Museum, Cape Town. Some 33 of these are exhibited in Windhoek’s Post Street Mall as the "Gibeon Meteorite Fountain" and range from 195kg to 555kg. The smaller fragments are on display in the Geological Survey Museum in Windhoek.
The museum also houses a wide variety of Namibian fossils ranging in age from 750 million years ago to recent.
Our latest display is that of Massospondylus, a prosauropod dinosaur that lived 200 million years ago. Its fossilised remains were found in the Etjo sandstone Formation in the Waterberg National Park in 1997 by Frank Holzförster of Institut für Geologie, University of Würzburg, Germany and later identified by Dr Bruce Rubridge and Dr Mike Raath of BPI Palaeontology, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Windhoek
6 Aviation Road
Ministry of Mines and Energy building on the ground floor
Hours: Mon – Fri: 8am-13pm & 14pm-17pm
Tel: 061- 284 8111
The economic mineral deposits of Namibia are represented by displays of various operating mines and exploration prospects;
Tsumeb poly-metallic deposit
Kombat copper/lead/silver
Rössing alaskite uranium
Navachab skarn gold
Otjihase copper/pyrite
Rosh Pinah lead/zinc
and Huab porphyry copper prospect
The world famous Tsumeb poly-metallic ore body (Pb, Cu, Zn, Ag, As, Sb, Cd, Co, Ge, Ga, Fe, Hg, Mo, Ni, Sn, W, V) hosts some 226 minerals, 40 of which are unique to Tsumeb. Following the closure of the mine in 1996 and the liquidation of the parent company in 1998, the Tsumeb collection was donated to the nation by Gold Fields Namibia Limited and forms the basis of an outstanding mineral collection that also includes a variety of semi-precious stones found in Namibia.
The industrial minerals displays illustrate their varied, and often unknown, uses by showing the raw minerals together with products derived from them. These include;
in the bathroom (ceramics, toiletries, detergents etc.)
vehicle production (plastics, paint, etc.)
clays (ceramics, bricks, pottery, etc.)
Namcor, Namibia's oil and gas parastatal, has displays on the hydrocarbon exploration and development, including the 2.0 trillion cubic feet Kudu Gas Fields (off-shore southern Namibia) which is currently in final feasibility stage.
The most extensive meteorite shower on earth is found in southern Namibia near the village of Gibeon. The meteorites are classified as octahedrites and consist entirely of taenite and kamacite in a classical Widmanstatten structure. A total of 77 pieces have been found to date and as they have almost identical compositions they are thought to initially been part of one large 15 ton body.
The largest fragment weighs 650 kg and is housed in the South African Museum, Cape Town. Some 33 of these are exhibited in Windhoek’s Post Street Mall as the "Gibeon Meteorite Fountain" and range from 195kg to 555kg. The smaller fragments are on display in the Geological Survey Museum in Windhoek.
The museum also houses a wide variety of Namibian fossils ranging in age from 750 million years ago to recent.
Our latest display is that of Massospondylus, a prosauropod dinosaur that lived 200 million years ago. Its fossilised remains were found in the Etjo sandstone Formation in the Waterberg National Park in 1997 by Frank Holzförster of Institut für Geologie, University of Würzburg, Germany and later identified by Dr Bruce Rubridge and Dr Mike Raath of BPI Palaeontology, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.
Windhoek
6 Aviation Road
Ministry of Mines and Energy building on the ground floor
Hours: Mon – Fri: 8am-13pm & 14pm-17pm
Tel: 061- 284 8111
