Knowledge
What is Talc?
Talc is a hydrous magnesium silicate mineral. it is usually green, white, grey, brown, or colourless. and is a translucent mineral with a pearly luster.
It is the softest known mineral.
Talc is a monoclinic mineral with a sheet structure similar to the micas. Talc has perfect cleavage that follows planes between the weakly bonded sheets.
These sheets are held together only by van der Waals bonds, which allows them to slip past one another easily.
This characteristic is responsible for talc's extreme softness, its greasy, soapy feel, and its value as a high-temperature lubricant.
How To Use It !
Talc is used in many industries, including paper making, plastic, paint and coatings, rubber, food, electric cable, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and ceramics.
It is often used for surfaces of laboratory table tops and electrical switchboards because of its resistance to heat, electricity and acids.
It is used to coat the insides of inner tubes and rubber gloves during manufacture to keep the surfaces from sticking, and with heavy refinement, has been used in baby powder.
Forming Talc:
Talc is a mineral that is most often found in the metamorphic rocks of convergent plate boundaries.
It forms from at least two processes. Most large talc deposits formed when heated waters carrying dissolved magnesium and silica reacted with dolomitic marbles.
A second process of talc formation occurred when heat and chemically active fluids altered rocks such as dunite and serpentinite into talc.
Most of the talc deposits are in metamorphic rocks and in rocks metamorphosed in convergent terranes.
The predominant ore body located here is magnesium carbonate, and is the whitest and purist of all talc ores although it can vary in colour from pure white to dark green in many places.
The Mine
You are standing at the viewing area overlooking the talc mine, the oldest and most productive talc mine in the southern hemisphere.
There is no information around however looking to nearby hill you can see some talc stone discarding’s, that have been used to build the viewing area.
There is also a chunk of Talc stone out front of the Three Springs Visitor Information Centre.
Questions
Although it is NOT Required, Please post a photograph of you and or your group, with a GPSr clearly visible with the landscape in the background..
To log this cache - send me an email via my Geocaching profile with the answers to the following
1. What is Talc?
2. What is the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, and what is Talc on this scale?
3. What Ore body is Located at the mine?
4. What are the colours or shades of talc you can see in the distance?
5. Describe the texture, characteristics and colour of the nearby talc stone?
Perform a scratch test on the talc stone
6. Describe what happened with the scratch test, and how difficult was it to perform?
You can log this cache straight away after you have emailed your answers to the cache owner, no need to wait for confirmation.
Please include the name of this Earthcache in the email - you'd be surprised how many people forget.
Also, when contacting us with answers, if you want a reply, please include your email address.
Any problems with your answers we'll be in touch.
I am obliged to delete logs that do not meet these requirements
We hope you enjoy this Earthcache at this spectacular location. Happy Earthcaching!
Congratulations
Jackylegs44
First To Find