P35. Geomaterials: characterization, industrial uses and environmentally friendly innovative applications

Geomaterials are any rock or mineral with economic value used in the industrial processes or technical applications, excluding metals, gemstones or energy-producing resources (e.g., coal). Geomaterials are critical for the production of ceramics, electronics, plastics, glasses, detergents and paper and are therefore fundamental for the 21st century economy. The most widely used geomaterials range from limestone to clays, from feldspars to bentonite and so on (e.g., silica, barite, gypsum, potash, perlite, pumice, flake graphite, talc, etc). In the modern economy, geomaterials are essential for construction of buildings and highways, and they contribute greatly to the real gross domestic product (GDP) both in a direct (mining) and indirect way (e.g., boosting the agriculture production).
Whereas limes and zeolites are used in the purification of drinking water, industrial sand is critical to process wastewater and the production of water from wells. Geomaterials are also essential to developing renewable energy technologies. While geomaterials are defined as non-metallic, 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 by-products (cement, slag, silica fume) as well as metallic compounds mainly utilized in non-metallic form (as an example most titanium is utilized as an oxide TiO2 rather than Ti-metal), fall under the brooder definition of geomaterials.
The evaluation of raw materials to determine their suitability for use as geomaterials requires technical test-work, mineral processing trials, end-product evaluation and especially scientific studies on the compositional and chemical-physical characteristics of geomaterials. For these reasons, researches that can contribute and deepen knowledge on geomaterials and/or industrial minerals and their applications with a full view to environmental sustainability are welcome in this session.