Luiz Alberto Dias Menezes facts for kids
Luiz Alberto Dias Menezes (born October 5, 1950 – died July 9, 2014) was a famous Brazilian expert in rocks and minerals. He was a geologist, which means he studied Earth's solid features, and a mineralogist, someone who studies minerals. He also bought and sold minerals. Luiz was born in São Paulo, Brazil.
He became very well-known because a new mineral was discovered using materials he collected. This new mineral was named menezesite in his honor! He also helped discover seven other new mineral species in Brazil.
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Luiz Menezes' Early Career
Luiz Menezes first trained to be a mining engineer. This meant he learned how to find and extract valuable minerals from the ground.
Working in Mines
He started his career at the Jacupiranga mine. Here, he worked on different parts of mining. He helped with the actual digging and crushing of rocks. He also worked as a process engineer at a special plant that used a method called "flotation" to separate a mineral called apatite from other materials.
Rising Through the Ranks
Luiz worked hard and moved up in the company. He stayed there for 15 years, eventually becoming the director of the engineering and development division. This meant he was in charge of planning new projects and improving how things were done.
Starting His Own Business
In 1988, Luiz decided to start his own company called Luiz Menezes Mining. With his own company, he began buying and selling minerals, sharing his passion with others.
Contributions to Science
Luiz Menezes was not just a businessman; he was also very active in the scientific community. He helped create and lead several important groups related to science and minerals in Brazil.
Founding Science Clubs
He was one of the people who started the Club of Sciences Campo Belo (Clube de Ciencias Campo Belo) in 1961. This club likely helped young people get interested in science. He also helped found the Brazilian Association of Mineralogy (Associação Brasileira Mineralogy) in 1965, which is a group for mineral experts.
Leading Mineral Organizations
Luiz also served as a director for the Brazilian Association of Gemology and Mineralogy. Gemology is the study of gemstones. He was also the president of the Friends of the Museum of Geosciences USP, a group that supported the geosciences museum at the University of São Paulo.
