NZS Trader

Company Description

Talc is the world's softest mineral. Although all talc ores aresoft, platy, water repellent and chemically inert, no two talcs arequite the same. Talc is a vital part of everyday life. Themagazines NZS Trader read, the polymers in our cars and houses, the paintswe use and the tiles we walk on are just some of the products thattalc enhances. Talc is a hydrated magnesium sheet silicate with thechemical formula Mg3Si4O10(OH)2. The elementary sheet is composedof a layer of magnesium-oxygen/hydroxyl octahedra, sandwichedbetween two layers of silicon oxygen tetrahedral. The main or basalsurfaces of this elementary sheet do not contain hydroxyl groups oractive ions, which explains talc's hydrophobicity and inertness.Talc is practically insoluble in water and in weak acids andalkalis. It is neither explosive nor flammable. Although it hasvery little chemical reactivity, talc does have a marked affinityfor certain organic chemicals, i.e. it is organophilic. Above900°C, talc progressively loses its hydroxyl groups and above1050°C, it re-crystallizes into different forms of enstatite(anhydrous magnesium silicate). Talc's melting point is at1500°C.