Limestone as an

1

• Limestone as an
• Industrial Mineral
• Kwaku Boakye Mineral Engineering Department and
  Bureau of Geology
• New Mexico Institute of Mining and
  TechnologyFebruary 9, 2007

2
Outline

• Introduction
• Geologic description
• Distribution
• Production
• Processing
• Marketing
• Uses

3
Introduction

• Limestone and dolomite constitute a group of raw
  material commonly referred to as carbonate rock
• In 2002, 1.6 billion tons were produced in the
  United States (Freas et al, 2006).
• 71 of all stone quarried mined in the United
  State is carbonate rock

4
Geologic description

• Origin of limestone
• Limestones of economic importance are
  biologically derived from seawater and originally
  deposited in relatively shallow marine
  environments
• Environment of deposition and the organic
  community largely determine the geometry of a
  carbonate deposit
• Environment of deposition is significant to the
  industrial minerals geologist because it
  determines the size, shape, and purity of the
  deposit
• High-energy zones produce relatively pure
  limestones because clay impurities are removed by
  high currents

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• Mineralogy
• Limestone are sedimentary rocks
• Chemical Composition of CaCO3
• Similar in chemical composition as aragonite but
  different crystal structure
• Aragonite is metastable and alters to
• calcite in time
• Siderite (FeCO3), Ankerite (Ca2MgFe(CO3)4) and
  Magnesite (MgCO3) are commonly found associated
  with limestones and dolomites

6
http//www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow1/oct98/expert/lim
estone.htm
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Limestone
Limestone
Sandstone
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageLimestoneshale7
342.jpg
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• Chemical Properties
• Chemical and Physical attributes are independent
  properties
• Pure calcite in the form of poorly cemented chalk
  is not only unique in its low strength but also
  high absorption
• Pure calcitic marble of the same chemical
  composition as chalk is relatively strong,
  unabsorptive, and unreactive
• Chemical analysis is of upmost importance in
  stone used for chemical purpose, such as glass
  raw material, flux, or cement

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• Chemical properties are not so relevant for
  aggregates products
• Chemical analysis are made to determine
  impurities
• Impurities related with lime stone includes clay
  minerals, resistance minerals such as quartz, and
  organic material.
• Most test are performed in accredited
  Laboratories
• Many state surveys have files of chemical data
  obtained from quarry sampling and coring programs

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• Terminology used describe the purity of carbonates

http//books.smenet.org/Surf_Min_2ndEd/sm-ch02-sc1
0-ss11-tbl001.cfm
11

• Physical Properties
• Carbonates are similar in physical properties
  making it difficult to distinguish
• Specific gravity, color, crystal form, hardness,
  etc are some of the physical properties
• This properties are tested using testing
  procedures in ASTM and AASHO

12
http//books.smenet.org/Surf_Min_2ndEd/sm-ch02-sc1
0-ss11-tbl001.cfm
13
  Limestone pot hole
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LimestoneLimestone_l
andscape
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Distribution

• Carbonate rocks are deposited from Precambrian to
  Holocene time (Parker, 1967)
• Carbonate rock compose only about 0.25 of the
  volume of the earth crust (Parker, 1967)
• Carbonate comprise of 15 of the worlds
  sedimentary rocks
• Each carbonate deposit differ in their geologic
  characteristics
• Highly-purity carbonate rock deposits are not
  overly abundant
• Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire and
  Rhode Island and all of Canadian Province are in
  abundance of pure limestone

15
Production

• Exploration
• Coring
• Rock Bitting
• Surface Sampling
• Mining
• Open Pit
• Underground

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Processing

• Processing varies with the end use of the product
  and targeted consuming industries
• Site for processing depends on
• Type of Mine
• Haulage Distance
• Surface Topography
• Processing involves
• Sawing
• Crushing
• Screening

17
Marketing

• Marking is influence by specification
  requirements
• Specification differ from companies to companies
  even though they may produce the same product
• Market price depends on the supplier ability to
  price the product on its value to customer but
  not the base on cost of production
• Adding value involves strong commitment to
  research, development and corporate support from
  start of mining and followed by technical support

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Uses

• the manufacture of quicklime (calcium oxide) and
  slaked lime (calcium hydroxide)
• cement and mortar
• pulverized limestone is used as a soil
  conditioner to neutralize acid soil conditions
• crushed for use as aggregate - the solid base for
  many roads
• geological formations of limestone are among the
  best petroleum reservoirs
• as a reagent in desulfurizations
• glass making
• toothpaste

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Conclusion

• Limestone and dolomite have been and continue to
  be one of the most important raw materials in the
  United States and the world
• Limestone is a carbonate and sedimentary rock
• Limestone of economic importance are biologically
  derived form seawater and accumulated in
  relatively shallow marine environment.
• Market price depends on the supplier ability to
  price the product on its value to customer but
  not the base on cost of production
• Demand of limestone and dolomite is expected to
  grow at an average annual rate of about 2.0 to
  2.5
• In 2002, about 1.6 billion tone were produced in
  the United States (Freas et al, 200).

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Reference

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ImageLimestoneshale7
  342.jpg February 8th 2007
• file///I/SME--ONLINE20DIGITAL20LIBRARY20SURFA
  CE20MINING,202ND20EDITION.htm February 8th
  2007
• http//www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow1/oct98/expert/lim
  estone.htm February 8th 2007
• Kogel, E. J., Trivedi, C. N., Barker, M. J., and
  Krukowski, T. S., 2006, Industrial Minerals and
  Rock Society for Mining, Metallurgy and
  Exploration, v.1, p. 581-597, ISBN
  0-87335-233-5/978-0-87335-233-8