Evaluation of the Cuban mineral gypsum to iniciate the national production of special gypsums

Abstract

The gypsum mineral is the most common sulfated ore existing in nature – its chemical formula is CaSO₄.2H₂O – which has been formed by the evaporation of ocean water during million years. In Cuba there are three gypsum mineral deposits where gypsum beta hemihydrates are mainly produced. Itis used in construction works and modeling and in cement production. This paper aims at doing a chemical and physical characterization of gypsum mineral existing in the mines located in the region Canasi in Matanzas province with the view to assessing its use for obtaining gypsum alpha hemihydrates for special uses, which are deficit products imported at high cost in the country. For this characterization to be carried out at laboratory and industrial scale, the research field was divided into several areas for assessing individual purities –enabling to mix one another in a way that meet the required quality of the product in a determined temperature range. The mine has a great potential for obtaining special gypsum that meet all international quality standards which would allow the country to substitute imports and to fully meet national requirements by building a valuable export. The research proved the gypsum from this mine to be especially fast by nature