ECONOMIC MINERAL - I

ET- 3202
Nurcahyo I. Basuki

Mineral / Material Industri

Industrial Minerals / Materials

Classification of Industrial Minerals

1- Berzelian
2- Alphabetical
3- Geologic Processes
4- Tectonic Models
5- Important Properties
6- End Uses
7- Economic Value

Classification of Industrial Minerals

1- Berzelian (Mineral Classification System)
It is named in honor of the Swedish chemist and
mineralogist Jons Jakob Berzelius (1779-1848).
It categorizes mineral species according to the main
anion group chemically similar
Mineral classes may then be further subdivided
according to: physical features, types of cation, the
presence or absence of water or the hydroxyl anion,
or internal structure.

Classification of Industrial Minerals

1- Berzelian (Mineral Classification System)
This system was used for non-metallics and also
hydrocarbons, but not industrial mineral/materials
(only for some siliceous and calcareous minerals e.g.
under silica and calcium carbonate).
The classification did not cover waste materials,
brines, or most manufactured products because
many of these were yet to be recognized as
important raw materials or products (at that time)

Classification of Industrial Minerals

2- Alphabetical
The simplest approach, and certainly the most intuitive
It works reasonably well for industrial minerals, but
requires a degree of clarification and consistency because
subdivisions are often necessary
This classification obscures many important links between
commodities, e.g. similar properties they possess,
geological processes that led to their formation, or their
applications/uses

Classification of Industrial Minerals

3- Geologic Processes
Based on many processes responsible for the formation of
all minerals and rocks, and industrial minerals and rocks
The dominant divisions:
igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic, and surficially
altered minerals and rocks (Harben and Bates 1984).
It has exploration relevance a commodity may be found
again in other places where these processes occur
Waste and processed materials were not specifically
addressed

Classification of Industrial Minerals

3- Geologic Processes

(Anon. 1994)

Classification of Industrial Minerals

4- Tectonic Models
Development of the geological process classifications
Major advantage: allowing analysis of the potential
spatial, as well as geological relationship between
different industrial minerals.
Ideal one for industrial minerals exploration and parallels
the earlier work for metal/ore deposits

Classification of Industrial Minerals

4- Tectonic Models

Classification of Industrial Minerals

5- Important Properties
Industrial minerals and rocks each commodity is used
based on significant composition or property
Kline (1970) devised a simple two-fold division:
1) chemical minerals as source of important elements
(e.g. for fertilizer, chemical, ceramics, and metallurgical
industries)
2) physical minerals physical properties such as particlesize distribution, brightness, and surface area are important;
mineral composition does not change during use. Including
construction materials, abrasives, gems, and fillers

Classification of Industrial Minerals

6- End Use
Exploration begins with markets (Coope 1982)
mineral or rock has value only if there is a customer willing
and able to pay for it
One specific minerals can many different end uses
e.g. limestone can provide more than 100 separate
products used in very different applications.
On the other hand, some consuming industries require
different industrial minerals, each of which alone would
not meet the needs of the manufacturing process,
e.g. cement industry

Classification of Industrial Minerals

7- Economic Value
Wright and Burnett (1962) proposed a threefold
commercial classification based on unit price and
production volumes:
1. Low pricelarge volume: materials used in construction
such as aggregates, gypsum, and common clay
2. High pricehigh volume: borates, potash, and salt
3. High pricelow volume: barite, kyanite, beryl, mica, and
talc
Each group can have a number of common features in
terms of their deposit size, distribution, location, mining
methods, and treatment.

Classification of Industrial Minerals

7- Economic Value
Bates (1969) developed two-fold subdivision based on
combined factors, such as:
- high and low unit-value commodities
- the bulk, place value
- imports and exports
- distribution and geological processes
- processing complexity
His conclusion:
- most industrial minerals fell into the high unit-value group
- industrial rocks mainly fell in the low unit-value group

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(Adapted form Bates, 1969)

Classification of Industrial Minerals

8- Other Classification
Smith (1999) developed a classification based on the relative
importance of physical and chemical applications or a combination.
1. Principal abrasives diamond, alumina, garnet, pumice
2. Principal refractoriespyrophyllite, sillimanite group, magnesite,
and graphite
3. Principal fillerswollastonite, titanium minerals, mica, barite, and
iron oxide
4. Principal physical and chemical mineralsfeldspar and zeolite
5. Mixed-application physical mineralssilica, perlite, clay, and talc
6. Principal chemical minerals phosphate, salt, and sulfur
7. Mixed-application physical and chemical mineralsolivine,
chromite, fluorspar, gypsum, and limestone

Classification of Industrial Minerals

8- Other Classification
Wilson (1993) edited by Amavilah (2007) based on end-use
and economic factors grouped IM into three:
1. Construction materials characterized by materials that are
valued for their physical attributes, are very widespread in
nature, are very bulky, and have low unit value

Classification of Industrial Minerals

8- Other Classification
Wilson (1993) edited by Amavilah (2007) based on end-use
and economic factors grouped IM into three:

2. Process materials a wide range of minerals and rocks with

special
characteristics to be used in specialized areas
This group includes:
(i) ceramic materials made up mainly of clays but also silica,
limestone, dolomite, feldspar, quartz, and bauxite
(ii) abrasive materials like garnet, silica, and especially chalcedony,
chert, quartz, quartzite, sandstone, and silica sand
(iii) refractory and metallurgical materials like magnesite, fire clay,
graphite, bauxite, silica, and dolomite

Classification of Industrial Minerals

8- Other Classification
Wilson (1993) edited by Amavilah (2007) based on end-use
and economic factors grouped IM into three:
3. Various materials, valued mostly for their physical properties.
They are less bulky, have higher unit values than construction
materials. They include:
- optical materials like quartz;
- absorbent materials like bentonite and diatomite;
- fillers like asbestos, bentonite, gypsum, kaolin, limestone,
- glass materials like glass sands, soda ash, limestone, dolomite,
feldspar, borax, and gypsum
- oil drilling materials like asbestos, barite, atapulgite, bentonite,
limestone and dolomite

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Major Use of Industrial Minerals

Eight consuming industries (Ciullo, 1996):
1. Paints and coatings,
2. Paper
3. Rubber
4. Adhesives and sealants
5. Plastics technology
6. Pharmaceutical
7. Agricultural Pesticide
8. Ceramics and Glass

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1. Paints and coatings

- PAINT: A suspension of pigment in a film former (also called vehicle)
- Pigment is usually mixture of inorganic metal salts, to impart color
It consists of insoluble, fine particle size materials
- Film former is usually organic polymer(s), the purposes are to protect
surface and hold pigments
- Constituents of paints: Pigments, Binders (resinous materials), Solvents
(volatile), Additives (to modify some property of pigments and binder)
Binders + solvent = medium (vehicle)
- Some of the uses for paint:
Art works
Decoration (residential paints)
Protection of a surface (rust inhibiting auto paints)
Warnings (reflective paint, fluorescent paint)

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1. Paints and coatings

Extenders similar to additives, i.e. to modify some property of
pigments and/or binder
E.xample:
Fine-ground, -325 mesh and micronized mica grades
the inert, platy mica improves suspension stability, controls film
checking, chalking, shrinkage, and blistering, improves resistance to
weathering, chemicals, and water penetration, and improves
adhesion to most surfaces
Micronized white barite and blanc fixe
primarily to add weight, in bristolboard, playing cards, and heavy
printing papers. Blanc fixe is used in the base coat of photographic
papers to supply an inert substrate for the silver halide emulsion
coat.

1. Paints and coatings

Functionally, coatings fall into three basic categories:
sealers, primers, and top coats
A sealer is a clear or lightly pigmented base coat designed to inhibit
capillary action in a porous substrate, such as masonry or wood. The
sealer serves two purposes. It provides a uniform base for the primer,
allowing an even film to form, and it prevents the migration of
extractives from the substrate into the primer and top coats.
The primer is considered the first coat. The purpose of the primer is to
insure the adhesion of the coating system to the substrate, to assist in
the protection of the substrate, and to provide a uniform base for the
top coats.
The top coats are the finish coats that provide the final protective
barrier and present an aesthetically appealing decorative effect.

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2. Paper Making
- Among the earliest paper-like materials were
papyrus, parchment and vellum.
- Papyrus was a woven mat of reeds beaten into
a flat surface that could be written upon.
- Parchment and vellum were made from goat and sheep skins. Leaves, the
bark of certain trees, thin metal plates, wax tablets and wood all served
as paper-like materials in earlier eras.
- Paper as we know it was first produced in China by Ts'ai Lun during the
first century AD. They exported paper to Europe and the Middle East,
until the 600s AD
- The Arabs then dominated the paper industry for more than 400 years
until the Crusades. Early papermills sprang up in Europe around 1100 AD
as Crusaders brought the technology to Europe.

2. Paper Making

Hemp wrapping paper, China, circa 100 BCE

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2. Paper Making
Wood pulp is made by several processes ranging from mechanical to semichemical to fully chemical methods, covering the full pH range from acid
to neutral to alkaline. Each pulping process produces a pulp with
properties unique to itself, depending on the type of wood used,and
each pulp type lends itself to a different end use.
In the pulp and paper industry, mineral raw materials are traditionally
called pigments, whether or not they are used to affect color.
The use of mineral pigments :
1) Paper Filling: kaolins, titanium dioxide, talc, calcium carbonate, calcined
clays, synthetic silicas and aluminas.
2) Paper Coating: kaolins, titanium dioxide, talc, calcium carbonate, plastic
pigment, blanc fixe, satin white, zinc oxide, structured kaolin pigments.
3) Pitch Control: talc, fine particle sized clays, bentonite.
4) Deinking of Recycled Papers: talc, kaolin.
5) Micro Particle Retention: bentonite

2. Paper Making

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3. Rubber
There is a wide variety of rubber polymers, each with its characteristic
attributes, and each offered with modifications designed to enhance one
or more of those attributes.
In most cases, the elastomer by itself lacks one or more necessary property.
A number of materials must be added to make it commercially useful.
Compounding is the means by which elastomer and additives are
combined to ensure efficient manufacture of the best possible product.
The compounding of rubber products starts with the choice of elastomer,
filler (reinforcing or extending), crosslinking chemicals, and various
additives which, when mixed together, will provide a compound with the
desired properties and performance.
Mixing is followed by forming operations such as milling, extrusion, and
calendering. These lead to the final processing step of vulcanization or
curing in which the compound changes from a thermoplastic to a
thermoset or crosslinked state.

Elasticity of Elastomer
Materials which undergo recoverable deformation of a few 100 % are
called elastomer and exhibit rubber like elasticity
Elastomer Long chain molecules with some cross-links
Cross-links keeps molecules from slipping past one another permanently
Relative mobility restricted to points between cross-links
Stress strain
Strained equilibrium configuration reached swiftly and hence time
dependence ignored (as a first approximation) i.e. Strain f(t)
Stress strain

Mobile segments

Cross-link points

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Rubber Products

4. Adhesive and Sealants

Adhesives are materials that are capable of binding other substances
together by surface attachments. The surfaces bonded together can
be metal, fabric, film, plastic, wood, stone, glass etc., and
combinations of these materials.
Sealants are used to fill joints, gaps, and cavities between materials.
They hold in or hold out air or other gases, liquids (most commonly
water), or solids.

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4. Adhesive and Sealants

Adhesives are materials that are capable of binding other substances
together by surface attachments. The surfaces bonded together can
be metal, fabric, film, plastic, wood, stone, glass etc., and
combinations of these materials.
Sealants are used to fill joints, gaps, and cavities between materials.
They hold in or hold out air or other gases, liquids (most commonly
water), or solids.
Adhesives and sealants must be able form good adhesive bonds with
adjacent surfaces to be effective. Most adhesives and sealants are
liquids or pastes when applied to ensure that they wet the adherend
surface.
The primary markets for adhesives and sealants may be divided into
packaging/converting/disposables, construction, and transportation.

4. Adhesive and Sealants

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8. Ceramics and Glass

The broad term ceramics is comonly taken to mean any of a
large family of materials, usually inorganic, requiring high
temperatures in their processing or manufacture.
These materials can be divided into categories as follows:
1. Glass
2. Whitewares, including artware and structural ceramics.
3. Refractories
Glass a supercooled liquid, a randomly structured material,
or a non-crystalline solid (amorphous solid with nondirectional properties), characterized by its transparency,
hardness and rigidity at ordinary temperatures, and capacity
for plastic working at elevated temperatures
Ceramic materials have relatively high melting temperature and are brittle
strain hardening cannot be applied

Classification and Application of Ceramics

Ceramic Materials
Glasses

Clay
products

-optical
-whiteware
-composite -structural
reinforce
-containers/
household

Refractories

Abrasives

bricks and tile -sandpaper

for high T
-cutting
(furnaces)
-polishing

Cements
-composites
-structural

Advanced
ceramics
-engine
rotors
valves
bearings
-sensors

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Applications

Chemistry
Pharmacy
Electrical and electronics industries
Optics industries
Construction and lighting industries

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DISCUSSION OF SOME
INDUSTRIAL MINERALS

Perlite: amorphous volcanic

glass (SiO2) with high water
content
hydration of obsidian
Perlite can expand and
become porous when it is
heated
Water trapped in the structure of the material vaporises and escapes,
and this causes the expansion of the material to 716 times its original
volume
Unexpanded ("raw") perlite has a bulk density around 1100 kg/m3 (1.1
g/cm3), while typical expanded perlite has a bulk density of about 30
150 kg/m3 (0.03-0.150 g/cm3)

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Color:
- before expanding: commonly
gray, but can be green,
brown, blue or red
- after expanding: typically light
gray to white
The expanded material is a brilliant white, due to the reflectivity of the
trapped bubbles
Perlite is mined using open pit methods such as ripping or blasting, or
both. Selective mining is used to minimize associated rhyolite or
obsidian.
Expanded perlite is used in building construction products like roof
insulation boards; as fillers, for horticulture aggregate and filter aids
Producers: The United States, China, Greece, Italy, Philippines, Mexico
and Turkey

Perlite's many uses and beneficial properties include:

Inorganic, inert and sterile.
No known toxicity or fire hazard.
Prevents compaction - improves aeration and drainage.
Does not decompose - lasts for years.
Stimulates root initiation and vigorous growth.
Insulates and minimises temperature fluctuations.
Almost neutral pH.
Holds moisture but does not become soggy.
Free from disease, weeds and insects.

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Asbestos
Asbestos commercial term, including six
regulated asbestiform silicate (silicon +
oxygen) minerals (ACM: asbestos contained
materials)
Characteristics: thin, flexible strong fibers,
heat resistant, chemically inert; BUT cause
adverse health effects
the use of asbestos has been significantly decreased
many of the short-fiber asbestos resources are not used anymore

and replaced with substitutes

asbestos still mined is long-fiber chrysotile asbestos

the only form of

Many other countries still mine and use asbestos in insulation products
due to less stringent health and safety regulations

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Barium
Barium (Ba) mainly from mineral barite.
Barite is a soft (Mohs: 3 3.5), silvery, reactive metal, high density (SG:
4.3 5), .
Because of its high chemical reactivity barium is never found in nature
as a free element
Because barium is so dense it is commonly used in some alloys, for
example in spark plugs and ball bearings, as heavy additive in oil well
drilling; in the paper and rubber industries; as a filler or extender in
cloth, ink and plastics products; in radiography ("barium milkshake");
as deoxidizer for copper; and in making expensive white pigments.
Color: silvery, pearly, vitreous
Producer: China, India and Morocco were the worlds largest producers

Barium
Barium sulfate, used in x-ray imaging, is highly insoluble in water, and is
therefore nontoxic and completely removed from the digestive tract.
Barium compounds that are water or acid soluble are highly poisonous.
Barium powder can ignite spontaneously in air.

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Beryllium
Beryllium (Be) found in nature primarily as bertrandite, which is
mined in Utah, or as beryl. Beryl is the gem stones emerald and
aquamarine
It has a very high melting point at 1287 C. The combination of its
light weight and high melting point makes it valuable for making
metal alloys which are used in electronic and electrical components,
aerospace, missiles, automobiles, computers, oil and gas drilling
equipment, and telecommunications.
Color: silver-white and very light metal

Aquamarine beryl

Emerald beryl

Beryllium
The most common mineral containing
beryllium is beryl which is found in granites
and special igneous rocks, derived from
granites, known as pegmatite.
Bertrandite is found in certain volcanic rocks
derived from granite, or in beryllium rich
pegmatite.

Beryl
Bertrandite

Small amounts of beryllium become available

from recycling of beryllium-containing scrap
Beryllium is extremely
toxic in powdered form,
but relatively harmless
as long as it's fully intact

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Cadmium
Cadmium (Cd) heavy (SG: 3.9-4.2 ), soft (Mohs: 3.5-4), silvery-white
metallic element that can be cut with a knife
Cadmium rarely appears in nature; it has many chemical similarities to
zinc and is often recovered from the primary zinc ore sphalerite during
the refining process.
The single most important use of cadmium is in the production of
nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cad) batteries. Also used in some paint pigment.
Mineral Classification: sulfide ; (Zn,Fe)S (sphalerite)
Color: brown, yellow, red, green, black ; adamantine, greasy, resinous
Producer: Cadmium is produced in countries where zinc is refined, not
necessarily in the countries where zinc ore is mined. China, Japan, and
Korea are the worlds largest producers, followed by Mexico, the United
States, the Netherlands, India, the United Kingdom, Peru and Germany.
Fifteen other countries produce smaller amounts

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Sodium Carbonate (Soda Ash or Tona)

Used in glass container manufacture; in fiberglass and specialty glass;
also used in production of flat glass; in liquid detergents; in medicine;
as a food additive; oil refining, making synthetic rubber, and
explosives; photography, paper and paper pulp production; cleaning
and boiler compounds; pH control of water.
The majority of soda ash is used to make glass. Sodium carbonate acts
as a flux for silica, lowering the melting point of the mixture without
special materials
The next largest use is to make a variety of chemicals.

Sodium Carbonate (Soda Ash or Tona)

Soda ash" is anhydrous sodium carbonate sodium carbonate without
water, Na2CO3.
Sodium carbonate is one of the most important compounds in the
chemical industry. The production of these chemicals and their
compounds is known as the alkali industry.

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Sodium Carbonate (Soda Ash or Tona)

Sodium carbonate (also known as washing soda or soda ash) is a
chemical found in many household and industrial products.
Where to Find
- Automatic dishwashing soaps
- Clinitest tablets
- Glass products
- Pulp and paper products
- Some bleaches
- Some bubble bath solutions
- Some steam iron cleaners
Sodium carbonate is usually not very toxic.
However, if it enters human body in very large amounts long-term
effects, even death, are possible if not receive quick and aggressive
treatment

Talc
Talc: hydrated magnesium silicate (Mg3Si4O10(OH)2, SG: 2.5 2.8, Mohs: 1
Talc is not soluble in water, but it is slightly soluble in dilute mineral acids
Two different minerals with similar physical properties are talc and
pyrophyllite (Al2Si4O10(OH)2. ). Their physical properties are nearly
identical. Both are very soft: talc at 1, and pyrophyllite is 1 to 2 (easily cut
and crushed).
Both talc and pyrophyllite have perfect cleavage in one direction (form
thin sheets) talc is used as a lubricant.
Steatite and soapstone are impure, massive forms of talc that lack the
distinctive cleavage mentioned above.

Pyrophyllite

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Talc
Ground talc is used as an ingredient in ceramics, paper, paint, roofing,
plastics, cosmetics, talcum and baby powders, and a variety of other
assorted uses such as making rubber and plastics.
Ground pyrophyllite is used in the production of ceramics, heat-resistant
products called fractories, and paint.
Soapstone was once used to make chemical-resistant sinks and
countertops for laboratories. Before the days of furnaces, blocks of
soapstone were heated on stoves and used as bed warmers.

The 21st-century BCE statue of IddiIlum of Mari is made of soapstone

Talc
Cosmetic grade talc containing no asbestos-like fibres was correlated
with tumour formation in rats (animal testing) (US National Toxicology
Program , 1993) --- Recent research questions this conclusion
One particular issue with commercial use of talc is its frequent colocation in underground deposits with asbestos ore, which often leads
to contamination of powdered talc products with asbestos fibres.

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