Lectures #1: Introduction

Geological Raw
Material for Industry
 Introduction

● This lecture will provide some industrial

application of geological raw materials, including
industrial mineral, metals, and rocks.
● Term mineral is used in a number of ways.
In narrowest sense, minerals are defined by the following
five properties:
● Minerals are solid, so they do not include liquids
and gases. Minerals are solid because all the atoms
in them are held together in fixed positions by
forces called chemical bonds.
 Introduction

● Minerals are naturally occuring. This definition

excludes synthetic solids produced through
technology.
● Mineral usually form by inorganic processes.
Some solid Earth materials form by both inorganic
and organic processes. For example, the mineral
calcite [CaCO3]
● Each mineral species has a specific chemical
composition which can be expressed by a
chemical formula.
 Scope of study

● Introduction
● Paints and coatings materials
● Papermaking
● Rubber industry
● Adhesives and sealants
● Plastics
● Pharmaceuticals
● Agricultural pesticides
● Ceramics and glass
● Etc.
 Paints & Coatings
● The oldest known use of paint dates to
approximately 23,000 BC in the cave paintings
near Lascaux, France.
● These drawings were made with pastes of natural
iron oxides and manganese oxides ground with
crude mortars and pestles and mixed with water.
● Egg whites, animal fat, or marrow were possible
binders.
● Wood ash, siderite, and chalk may have been
used as well to round out the primitive color
palette.
 Types of Coatings

● Paints and coatings are typically classified

according to functionality or end-use applications.
Functionally, coatings fall into three basic
categories: sealers, primers, and top coats.
● Calcium carbonate – Calcium carbonates are
more widely used in paint and coatings systems
on a weight basis than any other mineral filler.
● In non-aqueous systems, ground limestone
products are used extensively in exterior house
paints an interior flats and semi-gloss enamels.
 Types of Coatings

● In aqueous systems, the hydrophilic nature and

low water demand enable to easy incorportion of
high levels of calcium carbonate with only minor
increases in viscosity.
● Talc – Talc is probably used in a wider variety of
coatings than any other single mineral pigment.
● Kaolin clay – The main use of kaolin in coatings is
as a TiO2 extender in water-based architectural
paints.
 Types of Coatings

● Mica – Water-ground mica is used as an extender

and filler in many paint and coating formulations.
● Diatomite – White, flux calcined diatomaceous
silica is used as a functional filler and flatting
agent.
● Natural silica – Ground quartz and novaculite are
used in a wide variety of industrial and trade sales
coatings as inexpensive extenders because their
low binder demand allows high loadings.
 Types of Coatings

● Barite and blanc fixe – Barium sulfate is used in

coatings as barite, its natural form, and blanc fixe,
the synthetic precipitate.
● Wollastonite – Wollastonite has low oil and water
absorption, allowing high loadings in coatings.
● Nepheline syenite – Fine-ground, high brightness
nepheline syenite is used in exterior architectural
paints for its low binder demand (high loading
potential), plus its ability to impart abrasion
resistance, good tint retention.
 Pigments

● Pigments serve the decorative functin of a paint by

their effect on the reflection and refraction of light.
● White pigments reflect all wavelengths of light
equally; black pigments absorb all wavelengths
equally.
● White pigments – Many years ago the chief white
pigment in paints was basic lead carbonate, due to
lead toxicity, this pigment's use has been almost
completely replaced by other white pigments,
mainly titanium dioxide (rutile & anatase).
 Pigments

● Black pigments – Carbon black is the most

common black pigment used, although it is one of
the most difficult pigments to disperse well.
● Colored pigments – The inorganic colored
pigments are generally less expensive and more
widely used than their organic counterparts.
● The inorganics provide excellent heat stability and
lightfastness, but are more difficult to keep
uniformly suspended due to their relatively high
specific gravity.
 Pigments

● Many of the inorganic pigments are based on lead,

chromium, and cadmium, and their use is limited
by toxicity concerns.
Some representative inorganic pigment types are as
follows (please find the mineralogical terms and
explain their occurences!):
● Red (iron oxide): Fe2O3
● Yellow (hydrated iron oxide): Fe2O3·H2O
● Yellow (lead chromate): PbCrO4
● Yellow (cadmium sulfide): CdS
 Pigments

● Green (chromium oxide): Cr2O3

● Blue (iron blue): Fe(NH4)Fe(CN)6
● Blue (ultramarine blue): Na6Al6Si6O24S4
● Orange (chrome orange): PbCrO4·PbO
● Orange (molybdate orange):
PbCrO4·PbMoO4·PbSO4
● Metallic and nacreous pigments – Metal flake
pigments are made from aluminum, stainless
steel, and bronze.
 Readings

● Chatterjee, K.K. (2009) Uses of Industrial Minerals,

Rocks, and Freshwater, Nova Science Publishers,
Inc., New York, 584p.
● Hefferan, K. & O'Brien, J. (2010) Earth Materials,
Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, 608p.
● Laznicka, P. (2006) Giant Metallic Deposits: Future
Source of Industrial Metals. Springer-Verlag,
Berlin, 732p.
● Manning, D.A.C. (1995) Introduction to Industrial
Minerals, Chapman & Hall, London, 276p.