Resumen de Celestite producers search for new markets
"We produce some chemical grade celestite, but the markets we serve are very small," Oytun Suer, product manager for Istanbul-headquartered Barit Maden Turk AS told IM. "It used to be used in x-ray [media] and tube TVs, but now these are no longer markets, so we are looking for something else".
The sole commercial source of strontium, celestite's physical properties lie in between those of gypsum and barite, with all three minerals often occurring in the same deposits. In CRT TVs, strontium carbonate was added to glass to absorb x-rays created by the devices, limiting the amount of external radiation and improving the quality of glass. This property was also widely utilised in computer, sonar and radar screens.
Although the TV market has now effectively vanished for celestite, the mineral is still used to supply strontium for a handful of niche chemical applications, including pyrotechnics. Strontium salts, such as strontium nitrate (Sr(NO[subscript]3 )[subscript]2 ) and strontium carbonate (SrCO[subscript]3 ) burn with a bright red flame, so are used to impart red colours into fireworks as well as to stabilise firework mixes.
