The company and the community

JOSÉ CHOLINO geomining museum

José Cholino's sons wanted to pay homage to their father's pioneering and entrepreneurial spirit by creating the Geomining Museum. Since 1999, all the fossils and valuable minerals that the family collected throughout the history of the company are exhibited in 25 de Mayo, La Pampa, in facilities planned and built specially for that purpose. It is there that, every time a group of students or tourists visits the museum, the homage to José Cholino is renewed. And it is also there that the Company shows a vital aspect of its quality policy: active insertion in the community.

José Cholino was always passionately fond of mining. Since his youth he was related to earthworks, being a road worker who carried out activities related to soil movement. Later, he discovered important deposits and became a pioneer bentonite discoverer in the province of La Pampa. Those findings were the foundations of what later would become José Cholino Mining Company

Don José's enterprising nature and unwavering commitment passed along to his five sons, who even now -that he is not physically with them- follow his steps in the Company he founded, sharing his philosophy of life and work. Heirs of a strong bond with the earth, they decided to pay homage to their father with this undertaking, which extends beyond the family to the community. Thus they give away a real family treasure: the first valuable pieces that Don José found at different spots in the country, and the ones that his sons brought from many places around the world, where they travelled to carry out researches on mineral riches. They gave away that treasure, but paradoxically, they still have it: it is part of the Geomining Museum Don José Cholino's collection, which belongs to the whole community. The museum, located in 25 de Mayo, La Pampa, has been declared of public interest by local and provincial authorities and is currently coordinated by the local government. The Islas Malvinas plant, the deposits, and the Geomining Museum are part of the provincial tourist mining circuit.

For the Whole Community

The Museum was founded in July 1999, its inner disposition having being carefully planned to let visitors fully appreciate the exhibit of all the minerals and fossils found not only in the in the area but also in many other places in the country and around the world. Admission is free, and visitors touring the museum are accompanied by a mining technician who gives them information about the history of the pieces in the exhibition, the regional geological characteristics and also some criteria concerning the conservation and care of the environment.

The José Cholino Museum fulfills an educational mission which is multiplied every time a group of students or keen tourists visits the museum. The visitors' curiosity about the mineral world and the secrets hidden deep beneath the earth make Don José Cholino's eager and exploring nature revives. That is the true homage.

How to get to the Geominig Museum

Follow the provincial Route N 4 (Ruta Provincial Nº4), and take the access road to 25 de Mayo, province of La Pampa. The museum is located in area of the Industrial Park (Parque Industrial)
Open Mon-Fri (except holidays), 8-12 a.m and 3-7 p.m.
Admission is free.