Students enrolled in Brandon University's geology program are making use of their new core lab.
    
The lab was officially opened on Wednesday.

BU geology professor Dr. Hamid Mumin says it's rare for a Canadian University to have this type of facility.

He says students can now be trained on things they will actually be doing as professionals out in the field and will receive real work force experiences right at the university.

One of the rare earth cores inside the lab is a volcanic kimberlite eruption that occurred 54 million years ago in the Northwest Territories.

Parts of plants and trees from that time period are enclosed in the samples, which took about one year to collect for the lab.
    
Mumin says it created an opportunity for paleontologists to conduct research into the climate of that region of Canada.