Today, the Museum is holding over 16,500 samples (of which there are about 12,500 minerals, over 3,700 processed gems, and over 200 meteorites), grouped in several collections according to systematic, geographic, and thematic criteria. The permanent exhibitions (the Systematic Collection, Regional Collection, the Meteorites, or the Gems) take the two halls of the Museum and, in the case of the Crystallographic Collection or of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, a part of the Geology (Mineralogy) Department's hall. In the proper Museum, there are displayed approximately 8,000 exhibits (in 59 glass cases), in an exhibitional space of 126 m2. Among the "records" held by the Museum there are:
- The only proper collection of meteorites in Romania
- One of the richest and most diverse gold collection in Romania
- The most spectacular and diversified exhibition of processed precious and fine gems
- The richest and most complete collection of ornamental gemstones in Romania
- The highest number of mineral species in a systematic collection belonging to a Romanian museum
- The high variety of represented sites of mineralogical importance, located in Romania and abroad
Educational Projects for Students
Along geology students, who are the main beneficiaries, those of other academic fields also have the possibility of observing minerals and rocks tied in one way or another to their field of specialization. The museum projects supporting students and teaching staff are:
- Thematic visits, for the following departments: geology, biology, environmental sciences, chemistry, physics, history-archaeology, agronomy, pedology, forest science, materials science, architecture, plastic arts, etc.
- Knowledge tests in descriptive mineralogy – with questions regarding the macroscopic and physical properties of minerals, based on museum samples
- Volunteering for museographic activities – students collaborating in different museum activities (for example, setting up exhibitions)
Educational Projects for Pupils
These projects have the purpose of turning museum activities into interactive and dynamic experiences, of stimulating the pupils' interest in the mineral world, in natural sciences in general, of opening gates towards knowledge deepening in this field, but also of supporting the knowledge evaluation activity of the teaching staff. Each project addresses to a certain age category.
- Colored stones (for pupils of grades 1-4) – pupils are invited to manifest their creativity by painting rounded white chalk stones with watercolors; the most beautiful stones will be displayed inside the Museum.
- Searching for the treasure (for pupils of grades 4-8) – based on a simplified museum map with some clues, pupils reach the place where a "treasure" is hidden, which they can take home or to school.
- Multiple choice test (for high school pupils) – consists of questions referring to what pupils have seen and heard during the visit. This aims towards memorizing specialty terms and some information about minerals and rocks (characteristics, their roles in nature and for mankind). The test can be used for knowledge evaluation by the teaching staff.
- Top 10 of museum minerals (for high school pupils) – at the beginning of their visit, the pupils are invited to memorize the name and location of their preferred sample, which they are required to name at the end of the visit. By means of this project, we wish to stimulate the personal implication and the motivation of young visitors, based on the creativity and sensibility resources that are specific to their age.