Graphite exhibition

Graphite is a greasy thing. It consists of pure carbon [C], like diamond, and is a very soft mineral. The raw material graphite is of great importance for the green energy transition, as it is urgently needed as an anode material in lithium-ion batteries for e-mobility, among other things. Due to the supply risk and its great economic importance, the European Union has categorised graphite as a critical raw material. While Austria was one of the world's leading mining locations for graphite in the 1960s, only one mine is still in operation today. But how is graphite produced and are there still deposits worth mining in Austria?

The large display window at GeoSphere Austria's Neulinggasse 38 site will provide information about the raw material graphite from April 2025. Text panels and graphite products will be used to explain the special features of graphite as a raw material and its versatile applications in everyday life, as well as deposits and facts about the demand for raw materials in Austria.

A special showpiece is a sculpture made of graphite, which was exhibited in the pavilion of Prince Schwarzenberg at the 1873 World Exhibition in Vienna, and was subsequently added to the collection of the ‘kaiserlich-königliche Geologische Reichsanstalt’ (Imperial and Royal Geological Survey), a predecessor organisation of GeoSphere Austria, as a gift.

The exhibition is open to the public around the clock. Further information can be found in the research project ‘Assessment of the potential of selected graphite deposits in the Bohemian Massif’.

Objects from the graphite exhibition. © GeoSphere Austria/Träxler.

Objects from the graphite exhibition. © GeoSphere Austria/Träxler.

A view of the entire Grafit exhibition. © GeoSphere Austria/Träxler.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)