ME551/GEO551 Geology of Industrial Minerals Spring 2011

1. ME551/GEO551 Geology of Industrial Minerals Spring 2011 Commodities, Part 6 wollastonite, dimension stone, sepiolite, summary, the future of mining

2. NOTES • Both Field reports due April 16 • NO Field April 22—Good Friday • NMGS Spring meeting April 15 • Reschedule April 26 class to April 25 (Mon) • Commodities presentation by students on April 25 • Project presentations on May 3 • Final and project report due May 12

3. Wollastonite

4. Wollastonite—introduction • Ca3(Si3O9) • Usually as fibric radial masses or massive • hardness 2.8-2.9 • Usually white, sometimes weak pink or green • silky or pearly on fresh cleavages • Sticky surface, often fluorescent in UV, decomposes to silicagel in HCl

5. Wollastonite—properties • Inert • lath or needle crystals • reinforces products • promotes early release of gases in ceramics • high brightness • white • low LOI • high pH (9-10) • stable to about 1,120°C, • hard 4.5-5.5

6. Substitute for asbestos ceramics fillers and extenders flux in the casting of steel production of paints and coatings reinforcement hardening Textural coatings adhesives joint compounds refractories rubber plastics nylon phenolic molding compounds polyesters Wollastonite—uses

7. Wollastonite—production • largest wollastonite production facility in Mexico by NYCO Minerals 200,000 tpy, increase world production capacity by over 30% • China and the USA (NY) account for around 75% of the 500,000 tpy world output

9. Wollastonite—geology • Skarns • regional metamorphism • carbonatites

10. Wollastonite—environmental • Asbestos is found in wollastonite deposits

11. http://www.geology.neab.net/mi...

12. Dimension Stone

13. natural rock material quarried as blocks or slabs that meet specifications as to size (width, length, and thickness) and shape Color Durability grain texture pattern surface finish strength, ability to take a polish Dimension Stone—introduction

14. Granite limestone marble sandstone slate alabaster (massive gypsum) soapstone (massive talc) Igneous metamorphic sedimentary Dimension Stone—introduction

15. rough block construction (38%) monumental stone (26%) Dressed stone flagging (26%) curbing (21%) ashlars and partially squared pieces (14%) Dimension stone—uses

16. Dimension stone—uses

17. Dimension stone—production

18. Dimension stone—production

19. Proctor, Vermont – Derrick hoisting a 15-ton block of Vermont Verde Antique Marblehttp://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~quarries/states/vt-proctor-photos.html

20. Sawing the Vermont Verde Antique Marblehttp://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~quarries/states/vt-proctor-photos.html

21. Sepiolite

22. SEPIOLITE • Mg4Si6O15(OH)2•6H2O http://webmineral.com/specimens/picshow.php?id=2368

23. INTRODUCTIONThe “Hormite Group” • Martin-Vivaldi and Robertson proposed in 1971 this group for sepiolite and palygorskite (attapulgite) due to their complex magnesium silicate composition and elongate crystals • These minerals occur in close association with each other and more complex structural variations may exist (Bailey, 1972) • Hormite group possess a natural higher porosity and electric unbalance

24. INTRODUCTION • A monoclinic mineral • Hydrated magnesium silicate mineral occurring naturally either in a fibrous metamorphic form or in a sedimentary form as a clay.

25. The structure has tetrahedra pointing in the direction form 2:1 ribbons that extend in the direction of the a-axis and have an average b-axis width of three linked tetrahedral chains (Singer, 1989). INTRODUCTION

26. Rectangular channels, which contain some exchangeable Ca and Mg cations and zeolitic water, lie between the ribbons, and molecules of bound water lie at the edges of the ribbons. INTRODUCTION

27. INTRODUCTIONNames Given • “Meerschaum” by Werner in 1788 • “Ecume de Mer” by Hauy in 1801 • Talcum Plasticum and Ecume the Mer by Brochant in 1802. He also described low density and with magnesium silicates • Finally, in 1847 Glocker named it Sepiolite, from the Greek, sepia - "cuttlefish" and lithos - "stone."

28. PROPERTIES • Hardness: 2 - Gypsum (Soft) • Specific Gravity: 2, but fibrous dry masses float on water • Cleavage: Perfect • Color: Grayish white, Yellowish white, Bluish green white, Reddish white, Gray. • Diaphaniety: Opaque

29. PROPERTIES • Fracture: Conchoidal - Fractures developed in brittle materials characterized by smoothly curving surfaces, (e.g. quartz). • Habits: Earthy - Dull, clay-like texture with no visible crystalline affinities, (e.g. howlite). Fibrous - Crystals made up of fibers.

30. PROPERTIES • Luminescence: None. • Luster: Earthy (Dull) • Streak: white  

31. USES • Drilling mud • Industrial Absorbants (Fuller’s Earth) • Pet Litter absorbants • Agricultural carriers • Pharmaceutical applications • Ceramics

32. USES • Fertilizers • Plastics • Mastics • Catalysts • Bleaching earths • Pipes, ornamental carvings • Binder for molecular sieves

33. USES:Fuller’s Earth • Made up of a unique natural mixture of montmorillonite, palygorskite and sepiolite, it's the most absorbent natural mineral known to man. • A green, blue or yellowish-brown clay with a high adsorptive capacity, used to decolour fats and oils, to remove grease from fabrics, as a filter and as a base for paper and cosmetics • Fuller’s earth is mined in many parts of the United States, Georgia and Florida being the leading producers, and in England near Reigate, Nutfield, and Bath..

34. PRODUCTION • SPAIN: Dominates the world sepiolite production, the largest producing operation is at Vicálvaro in Madrid, where approximately 360 kt were produced in 1988. Other locations are Toledo, Torrejón el Rubo, Lebija, Almería and Maderuelo • UNITED STATES: Small quantities are mined near Lathrop Wells, NV, 160 km northwest of Las Vegas, in the Amargosa Valley • TURKEY • SOUTH AFRICA • FRANCE

35. PRODUCTION

36. PRODUCTION

37. PRODUCTION

38. SUBSTITUTES • Palygorskite • Bentonite

39. GEOLOGY • Sepiolite requires alkaline conditions and high Si and Mg activities for stability (Singer, 1989). It is also loosely associated with low latitudes and semi-arid climates. Most major deposits were originally formed in shallow seas and lakes as chemical sediments or by the reconstitution of smectites, in open oceans by the hydrothermal alteration of volcanic materials, and in calcareous soils by direct crystallization (Callen, 1984). • Occurs in veins in calcite and in alluvial deposits formed from weathering of serpentine masses, chiefly in Asia Minor. • Tertiary age lakes in an evaporite sequence. • Pleistocene saponite deposits. • Associated Minerals include albite, calcite, diopside, fluorite,   microcline, monteregianite, pectolite, phlogopite, quartz, richterite,   sodalite and steacyite

40. GEOLOGY • EXAMPLE: Vicálvaro Deposit

41. MINING • Open pits • Stripping done with scrapers, draglines or bulldozers • Mined with shovels, backhoes, small draglines or front end loaders • Clay transported by trucks to the processing plant

42. PROCESSING • General Processing: - Crushing - Drying - Classification - Pulverization

43. PROCESSING http://books.smenet.org

44. PROCESSING • Special Purposes Processing: - Extrusion and addition of 1% or 2% of MgO (improve viscosity for drilling mud uses) - High heat drying (improve sorbent properties) - Ultra fine pulverization (pharmaceutical applications)

45. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION • What is the importance of industrial minerals? • What commodities have the most material mined? • What commodities have the highest value?

46. http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/planning/industrial.html

47. http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/planning/industrial.html

48. http://www.bgs.ac.uk/mineralsuk/planning/industrial.html

49. Development of the minerals cycle and the need for minerals(MMSD)

50. Development of the minerals cycle and the need for minerals(MMSD)