Belarusian polar explorers handed mineral enderbite aged about 4bn years over to Lukashenko

President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko has met with scientists and participants of Belarusian Antarctic expeditions at the Palace of Independence today

The meeting began with the presentation of the Antarctica exposition to the President. The Head of State was shown domestic tools and equipment used by Belarusian Antarctic expeditions, as well as minerals found on the icy continent, and some samples of Antarctic flora and fauna.

After demonstrating all exhibits, the Deputy Head of the Republican Centre for Polar Research, head of the Belarusian Antarctic expeditions Aleksei Gaidashov, handed over to the President of Belarus the mineral enderbite that had been discovered in the area of activity of the Belarusian Antarctic expedition. It is, according to scientists, about four billion years old. The mineral is the basis of the crystalline foundation of the Earth, but its presence on the surface is observed in Antarctica only. The stone was mined in January 2020 in the area of the Belarusian Antarctic station Gora [Mountain] Vechernaya.