Borates

Deposited millions of years ago, borates are crystallised salts that contain boron.

Boron is a mineral essential to plant growth, so it is used in fertilisers, but it is also used in high tech applications, such as the heat-resistant glass for smartphones, materials for renewable energy – for both wind and solar projects, in wood protection and fiberglass insulation.

Commercially viable quantities of this rare and versatile mineral have been found in a very few places in the world. One is in California’s Mojave Desert, where we started mining more than 135 years ago first in Death Valley and then moving, in 1927, to Boron.

Today our Boron operations, in California’s Mojave Desert, supply approximately 30% of global demand for refined borates, from one of the world’s two largest borate deposits.

A touch of glass

Heat-resistant glass takes centre stage in the world of smartphones, tablets and televisions. Borates help make this glass possible. A typical smartphone or tablet touchscreen contains two types of glass: cover glass, the borates-bearing, scratch-resistant surface that you touch; and substrate glass, enabling the technology for the display itself.

Rio Tinto Boron

The mule teams, that hauled borates out of our original mines in Death Valley, are long gone but the symbol endures in the 20 Mule Team^® Borax product brand – a symbol of high quality and consistency, supply reliability, technical support and service.

Visit borax.com to learn more about our Borates business >

Borates also have a variety of industrial uses. For example, boron is a micronutrient essential to plant growth. Our boron contains calcium-free sodium borates, which are optimal for agricultural use. We refine our borate minerals into boron-rich micronutrient products that help farmers, around the world, grow better crops in greater quantities.

Some of the many uses of boron include: glass, fibreglass, flame-retardants, ceramics, detergents, wood protection, fertilisers, pesticides.

Boron is a naturally-occurring element.
Trace amounts are found in soil, water, plants, animals and even human beings. The element boron does not exist by itself in nature. It combines with oxygen and other elements to form salts called borates.
Boron (B) was isolated as an element in 1808.
It is the fifth element in the periodic table.
The first confirmed use of borates was in the 8th century AD.
Arabian gold and silversmiths used them. It is thought that ancient Babylonian goldsmiths could have used borates as far back as 2,000 BC.
Boron deposits are rare.
Boron is present everywhere in the environment but substantial deposits of borates are relatively rare. In fact, ores that contain boron are among the rarest minerals on Earth.
Boron is essential for plant life.
It is integral to a plant's reproductive cycle, controlling flowering, pollen production, germination, and seed and fruit development.
Borates play a critical role in high-tech products.
Such as the tough cover heat-resistant glass in smartphones, tablets and other electronic displays.
Borates are an important ingredient in insulation fibreglass.
This is the largest single use for the mineral worldwide.
Borates are used in space travel.
They coat the ceramic tiles on the underside of a space shuttle to help it withstand the thermal shock of re-entry. Thermal shock occurs when temperatures change suddenly, as when the shuttle leaves the freezing temperatures of space and re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere.
Borates are used in cleaning.
Borates’ unique properties enhance stain removal, whiten and brighten fabrics, and soften water, which is why they are used to produce laundry detergents, household or industrial cleaners and personal care products.