Minera Roca Rodando

NYCO , Imerys

Since the early 1950’s, NYCO Minerals has been producing and supplying an industrial mineral called wollastonite. Also known as calcium metasilicate, wollastonite is a white, non-metallic mineral with a needle-like structure that improves the strength and quality of automotive and consumer plastics, coatings, adhesives, sealants, brake components, construction materials, ceramics, mold fluxes and many other applilcations.
The history of NYCO dates back to 1953, when The Godfrey L. Cabot Co. of Boston, Massachusetts purchased the mineral rights from the Willsboro Mining Company. The initial 20, 000 ton per year production facility produced products for the ceramic and refractory industries. The company remained with Cabot until 1969 when Interpace Corporation of Parsippany, New Jersey bought the company to utilize wollastonite as an additive for their dinnerware and ceramic tile businesses.
By the mid 1970’s, wollastonite’s non-hazardous characteristics and high melting point were recognized as a key ingredient in the replacement of asbestos, especially for fire resistant construction board and friction materials. These new applications doubled the demand for wollastonite while driving the company’s name and brand recognition into the international marketplace. In 1977, NYCO further ventured into new markets and purchased the chemical modification technology which is applied to the surface of thw wollastonite substrate to allow improved mechanical properties especially as plastic parts were becoming more prevalent in automobiles to make them lighter for improved fuel efficiency. The chemically modified wollastonite was also found to be a key additive in industrial and marine coatings to extend traditional corrosion inhibitor pigments.
In 1979, Interpace sold the company to a division of Canadian Pacific who renamed the company NYCO Minerals Inc. The growing demand for higher performance let further plant expansions and the commissioning of a separate facility strictly focused on the production of chemical modified wollastonite products. From 1950 to the 1990’s, plant capacity reached 120, 000 tons per year.
Fording Coal, the division of CanadianPacific that managed NYCO, purchased a wollastonite deposit in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. In 1997, a plant was commissioned with capacity to produce over 200, 000 metric tons per year of wollastonet making it the world’s largest wollastonite production facility. The business was managed by Fording Coal in the early 90’s until it was sold in June of 2007 to Resource Capital Funds, a private equity firm based in Denver, Colorado. RCF specializes in acquisitions of mining operations throughout the world. On September 14, 2012 S&B Industrial Minerals S. A. acquired Rolling Rock Minerals Inc. and subsidiaries from Resource Capital Funds Fund IV and minority shareholders. Rolling Rock Minerals Inc. was the parent company of NYCO Minerals Inc.
Calcita (espato cálcico)
Wollastonita