The history of the collections dates back to 1849, when the contemporary Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Austro-Hungarian Empire purchased the first mineralogical collection for the newly established mining and metallurgical school (later Mining Academy) in Příbram and the school in Leoben in Austria, having divided the mineralogical collection in two equal parts. Later on, the collection was gradually enlarged thanks to the many professors, namely F. Pošepný, F. Ryba, and A. Hofmann.
The collections were located in Příbram until 1945, when the former Mining Academy moved from Příbram to Ostrava already under the name of Mining College (it was renamed in 1904).
No suitable premises were available to exhibit the geological collections after the war, and thus only some were on display in the corridors of the different university departments, and the majority were deposited in the basement of students’ dormitory.
The collections were exhibited in a more complex manner in 1968 in the social halls of the J. Opletal Dormitory during the preparation of the 23rd International Geological Congress in Prague. Finally, their current location was opened in 1989 having constructed the Geological Pavilion in the premises of the Mining College in Ostrava-Poruba.
Whole generations of professors, students, and graduates have participated in building the collections of the geological departments. A significant number of specimens come from gifts of domestic and international surveying and mining organizations as well as from exchanges between Czech and foreign academic workplaces.