Natural History Galleries

Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth's Treasures

Level 2, Weston Family Wing

Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth's Treasures showcases the Royal Ontario Museum’s exceptional specimens of minerals, gems, rocks and meteorites, a collection among the finest in North America.  The 6,900 square-foot combined gallery space fills the length of the Weston Family Wing on Level 2 and is divided into the Vale Inco Limited Gallery of Minerals, the Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Gallery and the Gallery of Gems and Gold.  The fascinating displays are contextualized and illuminated by over 40 interactive touch stations, compelling video exhibits and engrossing information on Canada’s mining industry.

The Vale Inco Limited Gallery of Minerals presents approximately 2,300 minerals, rocks and meteorites, exploring such areas as the classification of minerals, their physical and scientific properties, causes of mineral colour and the geological environments necessary for spectacular mineral growth.  This gallery features the ROM’s meteorite collection, including a 1.1 kilogram lunar specimen, one of the biggest lunar meteorites on display in the world.  The Canadian Mining Hall of Fame Gallery showcases the biographies and personal stories of 130 inductees through a fully bilingual, interactive video wall that explains how mining touches every part of our lives.

On December 19, 2009, the Gallery of Gems and Gold will reopen with a permanent exhibition of the most precious gems and gold from the ROM vaults. Some six hundred gems, gem crystals and gold represent the wide diversity and colour of gemstones and the finest gems in Canada. Some notable specimens are a 20 carat Emerald ring, a suite of rare gemstones from Mont Saint Hilaire, Quebec, a fabulous crystallized gold from British Columbia, and the iconic "Light of the Desert" cerussite.

The suite of galleries is named for the mining company Teck Limited, whose generous contribution to the Renaissance ROM campaign was the largest corporate gift in the Museum’s history. In addition to the Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth's Treasures, this gift helps create the Teck Endowed Chair in Mineralogy and the Teck Digital Education Module in Earth Sciences.

 

 

Visitors learn more about a mineral specimen by using the interactive touch screens in the Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth's Treasures.

The display cases in the Teck Suite of Galleries: Earth's Treasures present an attractive array of colourful and textured specimens.

Calcite, mineral.

Gold nugget.