Rio Tinto | Minerals and Metals for the world

Of course the toughest mineral of all is the diamond form of carbon and all other minerals are measured against it for hardness. In the early 1800s the German mineralogist Friedrich Moh devised a scale of one to ten to describe the hardness of minerals - and diamond is given a value of ten Mohs. In comparison, glass has a hardness of approximately six and thus diamond cutters are commonly used to cut glass.

When Joseph Kennedy came out with his quotation in 1962, the world was yet to see many of the tough uses for which industrial minerals are suitable. If we roll forward another 40 years or so towards the middle of the twenty first century it is highly likely that many more tough problems will have been solved by industrial minerals, such is their versatility and ease of utilization.

Graham Ellicott is a consultant in the industrial minerals market.



Of course the toughest mineral of all is the diamond form of carbon and all other minerals are measured against it for hardness. In the early 1800s the German mineralogist Friedrich Moh devised a scale of one to ten to describe the hardness of minerals - and diamond is given a value of ten Mohs. In comparison, glass has a hardness of approximately six and thus diamond cutters are commonly used to cut glass. When Joseph Kennedy came out with his quotation in 1962, the world was yet to see many of the tough uses for which industrial minerals are suitable. If we roll forward another 40 years or so towards the middle of the twenty first century it is highly likely that many more tough problems will have been solved by industrial minerals, such is their versatility and ease of utilization. Graham Ellicott is a consultant in the industrial minerals market.
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