| |
About Boron
Boron was discovered by Joseph Gay-Lussac and Louis Thénard, French chemists, and independently by Sir Humphry Davy, a British chemist, in 1808
Boron is a hard, brittle semi_metallic element.
Chemical Symbol : B
Atomic number : 5
Atomic weight : 10.81
Melting Point : 2348 K
Boiling Point : 4273 K
Boron Minerals:
Boron does not occur in nature as free element, crude borax occurs in nature as a mineral with associated clay and other impurities.There are over 200 naturally occuring boron containing minerals but the most commercially important and frequently traded minerals (salts, known as borates) are tincal colemanite, ulexite and kernite . These ores can be refined into a pure chemical compounds of commercial importance are:
Boric acid H3BO3
Anhydrous boric acid B2O3
Anhydrous borax Na2B4O7
Borax pentahydrate Na2B4O7.10H2O
Borax decahydrate Na2B4O7.5H2O
Sodium Perborate Na2B4O7.5H2O
Country |
Proven
Reserve |
Probable
Possible
Reserve |
Total
Reserve |
Percent in Total
(%) |
Turkey |
227.000 |
624.000 |
851.000 |
72.20 |
U.S.A. |
40.000 |
40.000 |
80.000 |
6.80 |
Russia |
40.000 |
60.000 |
100.000 |
8.50 |
China |
27.000 |
9.000 |
36.000 |
3.10 |
Chile |
8.000 |
33.000 |
41.000 |
3.50 |
Bolivia |
4.000 |
15.000 |
19.000 |
1.60 |
Peru |
4.000 |
18.000 |
22.000 |
1.90 |
Argentina |
2.000 |
7.000 |
9.000 |
0.80 |
Kazakhstan |
14.000 |
1.000 |
15.000 |
1.30 |
Serbia |
3 |
0 |
3 |
0.30 |
Total |
369.000 |
807.000 |
1,176.000 |
100 |
|
|
Some commercially important boron minerals
Tincal Na2B4O7.10H2O
Kernite Na2B4O7.4H2O
Colemanite Ca2B6O11.5H2O
Ulexite NaCaB5O9.8H2O
Datolite Ca2B2O5.Si2O5.H2O
Hydroboracite CaMgB6O11.6H2O
Turkey is the largest producer of boron ore in the world. İmportant boron minerals of Turkey's are tincal, colemanite and ulexite. Boron minerals contain different amount of B2O3 in their structures. The important factor for industrial application of boron minerals are B2O3 content, so they can replace each other in use . This means that one boron mineral can be trade competiter the other one.
Boron minerals can be used in some sectors in the industry as crude minerals. In general, their applications after refining and end-products are wider than crude ones. Borates find use in a different sectors, however the principal markets are: Agriculture, detergents and soaps, flame retardants,glass, glazes, frits , enamels and insulation.
Boron Reserves
In the world, Turkey, USA and Russia have the important boron mines. In terms of total reserve basis, Turkey has a share of %72.20, the other important country USA is %6.8.
Total world boron reserves on the basis of B2O3 content are 369 million tons proven. 807 million tones probable and possible, as a total of 1,176 million tons. With a share of %72.20, Turkey has a total boron reserves of 851 million tons on the basis of B2O3 content .
World Boron Reserves (Thousand Tons - B2O3)
|
|
