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Article: Industrial minerals 1997: Sillimanite minerals
- Article from:
- Mining Engineering
- Article date:
- June 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. Jun 1998. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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The sillimanite group consists of kyanite, andalusite and sillimanite. They are closely related, with the same chemical formula, Al^ sub 2^SiO^ sub 5^, also expressed as Al^ sub 2^O^ sub 3^.
Reported world production of kyanite, andalusite and sillimanite in 1997 was 369 kt (407,000 st), about the same as 1996.
South Africa's production was about 278 kt (306,000 st), principally andalusite. France produced 60 kt (66,000 st) of andalusite. India produced 24 kt (27,000 st) of sillimanite. The rest of the world produced 7 kt (7,700 st).
US production figures are proprietary. Figures for China are also scarce but production was probably more than 5 kt (5,500 st). The actual total world ...