Digital Mineral Determinant

The building of the University of Szeged is home to one of the most significant mineral collections in Hungary, the Sándor Koch Mineral Collection. Its history is closely intertwined with that of the University's Department of Mineralogy, Geochemistry and Petrology, which was taken over in 1940 by Sándor Koch.

The development of the collection gained new momentum with it. In addition to his own collection, he organized the mineral resources he acquired on the collection routes in an unusual way based on genetic classification criteria. In 1965, the department purchased the private collection of Sándor Koch, which made it possible to expand the exhibition spectacularly. At least 4,000 specimens of 1,300 minerals can be seen in the exhibition hall today. Some of them are the only specimens in all of Europe.

We created Hungary's largest 3D mineral resource for Mozaik Kiadó by taking a step-by-step photo of Sándor's famous collection. The photography of the minerals started as an internal project, with some of our own collections, but we wanted to capture some really important and valuable minerals. With the permission of Dr. Elemér Pál-Molnár - the then head of the Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences of the Faculty of Science and Informatics of the university - it was possible to photograph the minerals of the Koch collection.

With the help of the Mineral Determiner, students can learn about the world’s mineral resources in an even more spectacular and informative way.