Group Tours:
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Please note that the community programs will not be offered in September and October of 2008. Mineral World regularly hosts senior's tours, bus tours, cruise ships, educators, scouts, guides, summer camps, pre-school classes, and more. For strictly educational programs, please visit our school page. For mature groups, we offer two interesting and entertaining talks that can be tailored in length to be as short as ten minutes, or up to an hour. There are always lots of hand specimens passed around, so listeners can see the difference between a chunk of rough, and the final piece of art. Sometimes, the differences are surprising! When planning a group tour, please call the store (250) 655-4367 to discuss your requirements. For mature audiences, we provide talks for free. In return, we ask that the tour organizer schedule enough time for visitor shopping. Please remember, Mineral World has been described on CBC Radio as "one of Canada's ten must-see retail stores"! Visitors love the airy building, filled with light, the sea views, and our friendly, knowledgable staff. |
Talk 1: Canadian Gemstones
Canada is the home of some unique and very beautiful gems that are prized world-wide. Did you know that British Columbia produces 95% of the world's jade? Most is exported to China, where it's cut, polished, and re-sold as "Chinese jade"!
Did you know there's an opal look-alike, named after a Canadian province? Labradorite is a stunning gemstone, found originally on the cliffs of Nain in northern Labrador. And ammolite (known sometimes by the wonderful name dragon's eye) is fossilized mother-of-pearl, found on 200 million year old shells only in southern Alberta.
The passionate pink of rhodonite is a Vancouver Island favourite, found near Duncan and on Salt Spring Island, where it's said to be "the stone of love".
Talk 2: The History of Gemstones
Gems have always fascinated powerful men and women. Wars have been fought over single stones! The Greeks loved amber, the Romans adored opals. Cleopatra craved lapis lazuli, and had it ground into powder, mixed with oil, and used as eye shadow.
Michaelangelo, on the other hand, used lapis as tincture in his magnificent painting of the creation in the Sistine Chapel in Rome. The Russian Czars built entire palaces clad in the deep green swirls of malachite.
So much history, and so many extraordinary stories are associated with the semi-precious gems that we still treasure today. Join us for a trip through the past, to learn a little of the splendour and skullduggery surrounding them.