Gypsum industry news

US: NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity has found bright veins of a mineral, which appears to be gypsum, deposited on Mars. Analysis of the vein will help improve understanding of the history of wet environments on the planet.

"This tells a slam-dunk story that water flowed through underground fractures in the rock," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University, principal investigator for Opportunity. "This stuff is a fairly pure chemical deposit that formed in place right where we see it. That can't be said for other gypsum seen on Mars or for other water-related minerals Opportunity has found. It's not uncommon on Earth, but on Mars, it's the kind of thing that makes geologists jump out of their chairs."

The latest findings by Opportunity were presented on 7 December 2011 at the American Geophysical Union's conference in San Francisco.

The vein examined most closely by Opportunity is about 1cm – 2cm wide, 40cm to 50cm long, and it protrudes slightly higher than the bedrock on either side of it. Observations by the rover reveal this vein and others like it within an apron surrounding a segment of the rim of Endeavour Crater.

In November 2011 researchers used the Microscopic Imager and Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer on the rover's arm and multiple filters of the Panoramic Camera on the rover's mast to examine the vein, which is informally named "Homestake." The spectrometer identified plentiful calcium and sulphur, in a ratio pointing to relatively pure calcium sulphate. The multi-filter data from the camera suggest gypsum, a hydrated calcium sulphate.

Observations from orbit have detected gypsum on Mars previously. A dune field of windblown gypsum on far northern Mars resembles the glistening gypsum dunes in White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, US. However the Homestake vein is the first time the mineral has been spotted where it formed.

Canada: Georgia-Pacific has idled its Cape Breton gypsum mine in Nova Scotia due to the weak US dollar and low demand for wallboard in the US. The company is laying off 34 workers at the site whilst retaining eight others as a skeleton staff.

Georgia-Pacific told its workers on 2 December 2011 that it will indefinitely idle operations at its Sugar Camp quarry. "This is not a closure or a shutdown; it's an indefinite idle," said company spokesman Eric Abercrombie. "This is purely a business decision to idle the facility based on the North American market conditions and the weaker US dollar."

Georgia-Pacific had 73 employees in Cape Breton until the autumn of 2011. The Sugar Camp operation has been open since 1962. In December 2011 USG permanently closed the Fundy Gypsum mine in Hantsport, Nova Scotia.

UK: Eastern Waste Disposal Ltd has won a Euro0.85m multiple awardees contract award from Essex County Council to provide services for the collection and recycling of gypsum.

According to the description, "In accordance with its duties under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, Essex County Council sought services in relation to the collection and recycling of waste gypsum and tyres sourced from recycling centres for household waste in Essex and waste collection authority/waste disposal authority premises, including transfer stations, in Essex."

The contract period will be 21 months from October 2011 until June 2013 with options for the council to extend.

France: Lafarge, the French building materials giant, has announced plans to restructure the group along national lines instead of product types. The move will be implanted from the start of 2012 and was described by Lafarge as 'the natural next step' following its geographical expansion and its recent refocusing on cement, aggregates and concrete. This has become more pertinent following the disposal of most of its gypsum activities, with only North America the only area in which it still has gypsum operations. The aim of the project is to increase Lafarge's differentiation through the development of higher value-added products and solutions for construction.

Bruno Lafont, chief executive at Lafarge, said that the project may have a 'limited' impact on staff numbers. "It is premature to speak of the consequences in terms of employment," said Lafont. "If there is an impact, we think it will be limited." Lafarge previously said that it would remove a layer of management at the 'regional' level as part of the reorganisation

Canada: USG has announced that it permanently closing the Fundy Gypsum mine in Hantsport, Nova Scotia. 50 people were working at the mine until it was idled earlier in 2011. The Hantsport mine had been producing gypsum since 1934.

Robert Williams, spokesman for USG, said that the decision to close is a direct result of weak demand for USG's flagship wallboard Sheetrock® in the United States. because of the ongoing housing recession. He said being a stand-alone mine an expensive freighter ride away from USG's four US manufacturing plants also hurt the Hantsport mine's viability. Williams said finding another buyer will be difficult.

"The main use for gypsum is gypsum wallboard,"' he said. "It is unlikely that anyone else would have an appetite for it."

The company once employed hundreds of people and spent US$50m in the 1990s to upgrade the Hantsport operation.