Fergus County Democrat., 1916-06-22
GYPSUMANDITS
NUMEROUS USES
MATERIAL OF SPECIAL VALUE IN
CONSTRUCTION AND DECO
RATiVE WORK.
DEVELOPMENT OF HANOVER PLANT

The following article on Gypsum
and Plaster Products written spe
{ uially for the Democrat by Dan
/ r. Brown, head of the Hanover Gyp
sum company, will prove OF interest
to our readers, outlining, as it does
the extent of the industry just being
developed at Hanover with some infor
/ nation as to gypsum and its uses.
! Recognized as one of the oldest OF
building materials, comparatively a
! limited amount has been written about
gypsum and gypsum products, and, as
d result, the general knowledge OF
this material and its value is rather
limited.
The name. gypsum, is geological
term for hydrated sulphate of lime
and is composed of lime in chemical
combination with sulphur radical and
water, with the water in the form of
water crystalization. 1t is formed
through various actions Of nature and
the principal forms of origin are as
follows:
(a) Deposits from solutions
l. From sea water.
2. From rivers.
3. Vein dispositions.
A. Hunts chemical theory.
% Produced by alteration either
of material in place or other
wise
/. From anhydrite.
2. From the action Of sulphur
springs and volcanic agencies
on carbonate of lime or lime
stone.
3. BY action of pyritc on car
Donate Of lime.
(c) Gypsum earth
(d) Gypsum lands.
Tho theory most generally accepted
is that of a deposit by sea or salt wa
ter through evaporation and tempera-
ture changes, that cover a field Of
technicalities rather too complicated
to be of interest except to the geolo-
gist or scientist.
Gypsum occurs throughout the en-
tire United States and is found in the
form OF usually in veins below
the ground or very near the surface,
with a thin covering of soil. Various
operations are employed in securing
the raw material, including quarrying,
mining and open cut work The ma
jor part Of the gypsum deposits are
mined, and frequently shallow or thin
veins are mined at very great depths.
In the deposit gypsum is either
white, gray or pink in color, and the
eypsite is usually a very dark brown
or clay-coored product The rock
formation is rather hard and tenacious
and the gypsite very soft and prac-
tically disintegrated.
Deposits of gypsum are found in %
states of the United States, including
Alaska, and heavy deposits are found
in the Canadian field, particularly in
the eastern district of Nova Scotia
and New Brunswick, with undeveloped
deposits in the British Columbia field.
In production the state of New York
has first place, and in this state a
number of very thin veins of gypsum
are mined and he products manufac-
tured into various gypsum products
The Atlantic seaboard is heavy con.
sumer of gypsum products and it's
value as a construction material is
known to better advantage in the
eastern states.
The second place in production is
accorded Iowa and Michigan ranks
third with heavy production in Ohio
and Ogloham.
AS manufactured product, gypsum
is converted into wide group of prod
ucts. including as principals hard wall
piasters. stucco, plaster of paris. plas-
ter blocks, plaster board, moulding
plasters. dental plasters. special fin.
ishes
TIE first known use of gypsum or
plaster as building material was in
the mural decorations of the tombs
oil Egyptians over 1000 years ago,
and that work is in perfect condition
at the present time. That proves it's
durability. and the ancient developed
the art of plaster working to such an
extent that secured the most beauti.
full and effective results.
The Manufacture.
The manufacturing process neces.
sary to convert gypsum into the finish.
ed product is very interesting and con-
sists of the outlined:
la) Quarrying or mining rock.
tb) Crushing; two reductions.
(c) Drying.
(d) Pulverizing.
te) Calcining or heating.
tf) Mixing.
tg) Manufacture of plaster board
and plaster block
The works of the Hanover Gypsum
company represent a thoroughly mod
/ ern plant and a description of the op-
Grating of that mill will give you an
| idea oil the manufacturing process.
In securing the Jaw material the
two modern forms of operating are
used: Quarryng ana mining.
Quarry work consists Of ,lrilhng and
blasting the rock, loading in cars, and
a delivery by gravity tracks dis
tance of thousand feet into the
crushing department of the mill The
| usual quarry practice for hard mate
rials is followed and the thi ckness
Of the vein is from seven to eleven
| feet.
The mining operations are very
similar to the plan followed il pro
ducing or mining coal, and the vein
! operated as o mine is from Il to 30
feet in thickness. The materials leave
| both the quarry and mine Oil the
same track and with a two and one