HAULAGE

Feldspar Rock

Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminum tectosilicate minerals containing sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. Feldspar crystallizes from magma as both intrusive and extrusive igneous rock and is also present in many types of metamorphic rocks.

Feldspars are used as fluxing agents to form a glassy phase at low temperatures and as a source of alkalis and alumina in glazes. They improve the strength, toughness, and durability of the ceramic body and cement the crystalline phase of other ingredients, softening, melting, and wetting other batch constituents. Feldspars have vitreous lusters and occur in opaque shades of white to gray to pink to very dark gray. Other rarer colors are also possible.

The feldspar is divided into two main groups: potassium feldspar {k-spar} and plagioclase {plag} Feldspar is the name given to a group of minerals distinguished by the presence of alumina and silica in chemistry. This group includes aluminum silicates of soda, potassium, or lime. It is the single most abundant mineral group on earth. Most of the products we use every day are made with Feldspar (the most abundant group of minerals in the earth’s crust).

Feldspars play an important role as fluxing agents in ceramics and glass production and are also used as functional filters in the paints, plastic, rubber, and adhesive industries.

 

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Feldspar RockFeldspar Rock

 

Limestone

Limestone has long fascinated earth scientists because of its rich fossil content. Much knowledge of the earth’s chronology and development has been derived from the study of fossils embedded in limestone and other carbonate rocks. Travertine, tufa, caliche, chalk, sparite, and micrite are all varieties of limestone.

Limestone has numerous uses: as a building material, an essential component of concrete {Portland cement}, as aggregate for the base of roads, as white pigment or filler in products such as toothpaste or paints, as a chemical feedstock for the production of lime, as a soil conditioner, and as a popular decorative.

Limestone is a sedimentary rock made of calcium carbonate, usually in the form of calcite or aragonite. It may contain considerable amounts of magnesium carbonate {dolomite} as well. Mineral and Chemical Composition: The minerals calcite and dolomite are the main ingredients of limestone. Both are calcium-bearing carbonate minerals, meaning that they contain the chemical elements calcium {Ca}, carbon {C}, and oxygen {O}.

 

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