Industrial Minerals and Geomaterials for Sustainable Environmental Applications

Dear Colleagues,

Industrial minerals are any rocks or minerals with economic value used in industrial processes or technical applications that are not used as sources for metals, gemstones, or energy. Many different types of industrial minerals and geomaterials serve multiple uses. Some examples of applications for industrial minerals are construction, ceramics, paints, electronics, filtration, plastics, glass, detergents, and paper. Industrial minerals are fundamental to the economy; some are considered critical minerals essential to the economies and security of nations. The most widely used industrial minerals include limestone, clays, crushed rock, sand, gravel, diatomite, kaolin, feldspar, bentonite, silica, barite, gypsum, potash, perlite, pumice, flake graphite, talc, etc. They are used in industries based on their physical and/or chemical properties in their natural state or after beneficiation, either as raw materials or as additives in a wide range of applications. They are essential for the construction of buildings as well as highways and contribute to real gross domestic product (GDP), including mining, processing, and manufacturing. Industrial minerals are also essential to the technologies employed in the defense, agriculture, and renewable energy industries. They are valuable components in medication products. They serve as asbestos substitutes for insulation and as absorbents for oil as well as chemical clean-ups. They (i.e., lime and zeolite) even treat and purify drinking water, while also helping landscaped and reclamation areas absorb and hold water, reducing the amount of water used. Industrial sand is used in the filtration of drinking water, the processing of wastewater, and the production of water from wells. They are also essential to developing renewable energy technologies. While industrial minerals are defined as nonmetallic, there are a few that have metallurgical properties, such as bauxite, which is the primary source of aluminum ore and is also used to make cement and abrasives. In some cases, even organic materials (peat) and industrial products or byproducts (cement, slag, and silica fume) are categorized under industrial minerals, as are metallic compounds mainly utilized in nonmetallic form (as an example, most titanium is utilized as an oxide, TiO2, rather than as metal Ti).

The evaluation of raw materials, in order to determine their suitability for use as industrial minerals, requires technical test work, mineral processing trials, end product evaluation, and, in particular, scientific studies on the compositional as well as chemical–physical characteristics of geomaterials. Therefore, for these reasons, research that can contribute to and deepen the knowledge of industrial minerals/geomaterials and their applications with a full view to environmental sustainability are welcome to this Special Issue.

Prof. Dr. Stefano Columbu
Dr. Davide Comboni
Dr. Concetta Rispoli
Dr. Dario Fancello
Prof. Dr. Marco Lezzerini
Guest Editors

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