Lithotheque

The Lithotheque is a scientific and technical facility created by the IGME (Spanish Geological Survey) in 1988. It is the only publicly accessible center of its kind in Spain, where core samples, gravel, and rock samples are preserved and safeguarded. It also houses a significant collection of documents containing geological and mining information generated during exploration and research campaigns for geological resources and mineral deposits carried out by the IGME and other public and private entities within Spain, its territorial waters, and the continental shelf.

The Lithotheque’s mission is the management, cataloging, and digitization of its scientific collections, providing technical assistance and advice for the study and sampling of these collections.

The Lithotheque has the necessary infrastructure for drilling studies, a core sampling workshop, machinery for cutting rocks and core samples, petrographic microscopes, and binocular magnifiers.

It is also equipped with a Box Scan multisensor platform for core and rock sample analysis (XRF, VNIR/SWIR analysis, magnetic susceptibility, and laser profiling), a DMT Corescan Colour II core scanner and DigiCore software, and two portable XRF analyzers for in-situ chemical composition analysis. All of this equipment allows for non-destructive testing.

The IGME’s Borehole Lithotheque manages the preservation of borehole and geochemical exploration core samples obtained from research projects in Spain.

The Peñarroya Lithotheque is the largest public repository of subsurface samples in Spain.