The real story of King Solomon's Mines

An Introductory Workshop in Practical Geology and Prospecting

IGA / NMI FULL DAY WORKSHOP

The National Museum of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin

Saturday 11 February 2012

10.00 am to 5.00pm

Presented by: John Arthurs, Exploration Consultant

King Solomon’s Mines, H. Rider Haggard’s famous Victorian adventure story, is loosely based on real events.  Between 1850 and 1950 the “Scramble for Africa” was driven by competition between European powers to control the huge mineral potential of the region.  Prospectors were the key players.

As a way of providing entertainment together with instruction, you can participate in a game to become the first to discover one of the world’s greatest copper mines.  Our story is set on the Congo-Zambezi Watershed in the early 1900s.  The mineral rights of the region, then known as the “Heart of Darkness”, were ruthlessly controlled by Cecil Rhodes’s British South Africa Company.  You will join a small team and together tackle simulations of the technical difficulties which prospectors faced in order to peg valuable mining claims. In following the story line you can learn elementary rock and mineral identification, how to make a geological map and how to construct a drill section to show the structure of the deposit.

This full day workshop is mainly intended for adults who have an amateur interest in geology and who wish to learn or to revise some basic practical skills.  However, professional geologists will also be welcome. They might like to form their own team or else volunteer to act as “consultants” to help the amateur teams.

The workshop is organised jointly by the Irish Geological Association and the National Museum of Ireland.  The NMI has excellent education facilities and a wonderful rock and mineral collection.  A rock & mineral identification handbook and necessary maps and information will be provided, but it will help you if you can bring your own:

• hand lens
• penknife or scribing tool to test mineral hardness
• drawing pen and pencil
• pencil eraser
•  small set of colouring pencils
• 30cm ruler

Also, if you have any high quality or unusual specimens of copper minerals and if you could bring them along, they would be of interest to all of us.

Entrance is free. Please come prepared to stay the whole day.  There will be breaks between the phases of the game. Food will not be provided but there is an excellent café in the Museum as well as many good eating places in the district.

We require a firm commitment of your intention to attend as places are limited and there will need to be suitable sets of materials and specimens for each participant. Send your details by Friday 3^rd February at the latest to: excursions@geology.ie

Twalaamonana! (in the language of the Bemba people = See you later!)