Document NROYboQ6j7R3dEdGMqGyYYQQ
FILE NAME: Talc (TALC)
DATE: 1975 Mar 20
DOC#: TALC472
DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: Memo RE An Assessment of the J-M Position with Talc
c-llf>V -Joiins-ivionviuc >
V. P.- A. 'Martinson - 2W-
'
d ;.!<>. March 20; 102 5
Ficmm;; R.. vS. Lamar
- 2W
Copies: J. M. Fletcher - 2S H. R- Keefe - 2W
J. M. Sharratt -. 2S
Subiect:
AH ASSESSMENT OF TH J-M POSITION WITH TALC
.
. . . r m .c PTrtrv into the talc business with S H c ^ K H o n e t Desert M u e r a i s Company l time enough for an^appvaisal of our'position. -This a s s e s s .s broken down into eight sections as follows.
F.ffects of Labeling,! nnr nosition here has been S ^ | f f | f ^ ^ H o n 0J -MP culd take According ScuIe.e yljA-ic/n h ' o.iM-s h +av,,M+.a ro-era' sY `np?.n*ti .Ooff thhe.
&
Change this
fact.
.
V, ,Y
; sv , *- f '/ could au'intain
iiihmiqieiy'h'iEi bIh5sS'and trelatively^low^ acid soluble content of G-l and G-Z talc ores, w
could hold onto nest of the crltl^al
.
spite of labeling. I now seriously doubt oui
ability to do this.
.
.
The "talc-asbestos" problem is quite different
from the "asbestos-asbestos" problem. In many
applications for asbestos,.there.are n o _acceptable
substitute^. With our asbestos-containing te-lc,
.
S e r e are numerous possibilities for substitution:.
(aV Non-asbestos containing talcs^from both Pfizer and Cyprus from; Montana sources and . .
rbl Other extender pigments such as kaolin arid_ calcium carbonate (in paints, for example, and m
paper filling uses).
.
Ke see this type of substitution being made and longuestablished markets for-Desertle products
evaporating in the process.
CRMC-HT-TALC-000206
A, Martinson
.Paga Two
The R . T. .Vanderbilt Position;. Their position
respccT to labeling must Do deliberately perfidious,
they cannot "be this .misinformed. . Slim Thompson
.
t cir technical d i r e c t o r h a s a Ph..D. .m - m n e r a l o p At tlic moment, Vanderbilt is misleading, their customcis
and coil fus inc ours with.their decision not to Ultimately, the truth will out. and they ..,11 - - - -
to label.
.
'
Pfizer's position' is the 'same with their California
tales.- With all asbestos-containing talcs labeled,
far greater value and emphasis in the market will
he applied to asbestos-free talcs. I seriously
question the capacity of these asbestos-free talcs to
satisfy the totll market. Also, in.some applications,
the asbestos-free talcs are' just n o t a suitable sub .
s.titute quality-wise. For example,
gre
tile (a major market for trcmolitic talc) there.are
few if any, asbestos-free talcs that show tne same
forming and firing properties. Penhorwood fires to
a brown color due t-o. high, iron content. G-l F n e s
v.'hitei due to very low iron content.
_
Nevertheless, it is a fact that the Montana talc (asbestos-free) business of both Cyprus ^ u s t r i a l Minerals and Pfizer is booming, while we aie in tne
doldrums.
,
" `
nualitv: Historically, talc mining has been.a hi|h^
grafting operation with selective mining required to
maintain acceptable quality >r various uses. This. ..
type bf selective mining 'was done successfully for. over 5 5 'years at .the Grantham Mine.; Proper quality . and uniformity of ore were seldom, if ever, problems and sizeable markets were built on ..this foundation ,
of quality.
:
'
.
The unique high brightness of Cyclo-Ffl ( 9 , was, ih thepas t , properly maintained and a good and ^ profitable market developed for this product in papci
fillina . With t he"brightness of current quality
Cyclo-Fil dipping as low as_89?o, there is no way
we are roing to maintain this business. Clays and
o h fillets at half the price of C)-clo-Fil can and
arc being used.
.
'
CRMC-HT-TALC-000207
A. Martinson
Page Three
Other quality.considerations -relating' to high acid soluble content and improper grind have caused an _ ei.osion of our. paper industry business until \r `' nothing-.remains.
Markets: At-one time (less than three years ago)
sizeable markets for Desertale products existed in paper, paint, plastics, and ceramics both Dr-51 and DT-S7 were the most widely used fillers in 40filled polypropylene, lie lost this business pi lor
tdc -o
labelling because of tremolite content,' Many of our paint and paper accounts have been lost for the same
reason and labeling has accelerated this lss Labeling, plus the loss of proper quality, has been
disasterous.
Ceramic sales of DT-51 have been difficult to maintain.
High acid soluble and water soluble contents ox
.
ore have resulted in casting slip gelation and rheologic
problems. The'high acid soluble content of .current
quality G-l and G-2 ore has-`increased the alum .d-emar... -
Of bo til CvClu-Suiu and Cyclu-rii in paper applications
to the point where, even if we had proper brightness, a
paper mill could not afford to use our products.
I 'can foresee no markets that can be built or rebuilt
under present conditions.
.
New Technology: Froth flotation will reduce the tremoTite content of -G-2 ore to less than li, but wall
not remove all of the tremolite. In such a wet process., acid leaching will increase brightness seveial points. MIMS'could probably also be used to .remove even
paramagnetic material to improve brightness still
further.
'
'
Newly developed sand or a-ttrifor_milling procedures
edn grind down to 3 msximuni particle size of under
2;microns, but I believe that all of these new .
techniques are a waste of time as long as we have
to label. Also,-the relatively high mining costs
at Warm Springs, plus the absence of adequate
water for these wet-processing 'methods makes the
development of other sources more attractive.
.
CRMC-HT-TALC-000208
A. Martinson
Page Four
Prt}iorvooc]; Based on detailed, testing, 've
:t
ii--
rnfui tile can be 'developed as a major sou*c,,
M o u l d be directly ,, . t m v .
K i th -Mi.tron V a p o r `" e d e i e l o i U for
developed from the same mining area, additional markets would become available.
Other. .WorldtwiKdFe'TTnidlaeu'lS^ources;
With the woildwide of tremolitic or asbestos-
Beeline^in .
f b . i t o . - f r . . ta c w U
containing Olirei v Vernme
movr*
v a_m a_bln.
Major smn'ce.s .or i-0 '-v>
type of ore exist in Franco Italy, Spain, India,
Red China and other parts of the world. Generally,
all of these deposits are selectively mined.
o m v Finntalc and Johnson and Johnson are using froth
quality industry
must
move
in
this
direction
as
deposits
amendabie''to high-grading are depleted
in California, Nevada, and Montana
5 TM S ^ ul ^ o ; ; S " :t f^ ; i j ^ t r iir
bo deveiopod. ^ t h i ^ p o s s i b i l i t v should be explored - -but Hfoorwevaesrbe'stos-f-rPee materials. There would appear be an opportunity for nood geological work.
only
CRMC-HT-TALC-000209
?.. A. M a r t i n s o n
Pane rivo
8 Conclusions and Recommendations.
a. Labeling, plus .ortl doclin m u s e d a disasterous loss m J-M talc Du..} neb.
Some of this business might be regained in sni
of labeling providing we could rc-establis i.
prior high-quality standards in both our ^ ^ e f f e c t s ' a n d milling of these products. However, tne etiec
of labeling w i U always place, us in a senous- _
. competitive position. The economic viability
.
such an operation is also .highly questiona
b. Until Peniiorv/ood is in operation, ^ u ^ lc' trv to hold onto as much, of out existing talc
' -
holiness as possible, Such a holding action. will be difficult, e x p e n s i v e a n d d.isheavteinng,
ihnt should be done. Penhorwoud will not replace
all existing markets for^Grantham talc because of
darker color and other differences.
c. Beyond the development of Penhorvood i-o develop, or. a wcrlcwi ce s c a l e o t h e . -----
.
free, sources for talc mineral, .inese w i n most suiex,
become more valuable with time.
.
It would be unfortunate, indeed, if wc W'ire to let
r i i ' r tnPrniTi Ti uflfrlfji CCCv Vi iv1i uo ii l oo xx Txl wLi*itk*T"u* W----U---.----- .
,,
with^J-M development of other * * ^ V ^ * ta C sources under more desirable conditions.
CRMC-HT-T ALC-000210