Diatomite is a chalk-like, soft, friable, earthy, very fine-grained, siliceous sedimentary rock, usually light in color (white if pure, commonly buff to gray in situ, and rarely black). It is very finely porous, very low in density (floating on water at least until saturated), and essentially chemically inert in most liquids and gases. It also has low thermal conductivity and a rather high fusion point.

Diatomaceous earth (often abbreviated as D.E.) is a common alternate name but is more appropriate for the unconsolidated or less lithified sediment. Diatomite is also known as kieselguhr (Germany), tripolite (after an occurrence near Tripoli, Libya), and moler (an impure Danish form). Alfred Noble named his explosive invention, dynamite, following his discovery that nitroglycerin could be stabilized if first absorbed in diatomite (Nobel, 1868). Diatomite deposits form from an accumulation of amorphous hydrous silica cell walls of dead diatoms in both oceanic and fresh waters. These microscopic single-cell aquatic plants (algae) contain an internal, elaborate siliceous skeleton consisting of two frustules (valves) that vary in size from less than 1 micrometer (μm) to more than 1 millimeter in diameter, but are typically 10 to 200 μm in diameter. The frustules have a broad variety of delicate, lacy, perforated shapes, including cylinders, discs, feathers, ladders, needles, and spheres. The oldest occurrences are thought to be of Cretaceous age, deposited about 66 million to 138 million years ago. Older diatomite occurrences may have been altered into other forms of silica, particularly chert, owing to diagenesis, burial, and exposure. Detailed information on the geology of diatomite can be found in Wallace (2003) and Moyle and Dolley (2003).

The typical chemical composition of diatomite is 86% silica, 5% sodium, 3% magnesium and 2% iron. Diatomite has low density (0.5-0.8 g/cm3) and high specific surface (porosity 70-75%). Specific properties of diatomite owe its multi-purpose industrial use (Fig. 1). In the world, diatomite is now used principally as a filter aid; but it has many other applications, such as an absorbent for industrial spills and as pet litter, a filler in a variety of products from paints to dry chemicals, an insulation material as sawn and molded shapes as well as loose granular, a mild abrasive in polishes, and a silica additive in cement and various other compounds.

Filtration (including the purification of beer, liquors, and wine and the cleansing of greases and oils) continued to be the largest end use for diatomite, also known as diatomaceous earth. An important application for diatomite is the removal of microbial contaminants, such as bacteria, protozoa, and viruses in public water systems. Other applications for diatomite include filtration of human blood plasma, pharmaceutical processing, and use as a nontoxic insecticide.

In CIS/Russia, the great bulk of diatomite is consumed in manufacture of building and heat-insulating materials (see below in details) - as hydraulic additive (up to 6% of clinker) in manufacture of white cements (owing to high whiteness of diatomite, which must be at least 72% in this end-use); in manufacture of building brick to provide its low weight (a half of that of common brick), high heat- and sound-insulating properties, but this brick has less strength and frost resistance; in manufacture of heat-insulating materials and articles (both as natural filling powdery insulation and in form of various roasted and mastic-based articles); and in filtering materials - diatomite is one of key resources for production of filtering powders for food industry (but before the use the diatomite powder should be cleaned from clay and sandy impurities, harmful oxides and organic matter and calcined (at around 1000 - -) to improve considerably properties of the filtering powders).

1. Brief characteristics of world market of diatomite

2. Reserves and deposits of diatomite in the CIS

3. Requirements, imposed on quality of diatomite resources, technology of manufacture of diatomite products

4. Mining and production of diatomite products

4.1. Mining and production of diatomite products in CIS countries
4.2. Current standing of company-producers of diatomite products in the CIS

Russia
- LLC -Diatomite combine> (Ul -yanovsk region)
- LLC -Inzensky plant of filtering materials> (Ul -yanovsk region)
- JSC -Potaninsky plant of building materials -Polistrom> (Chelyabinsk region)
- LLC -Kamyshlovsky brick plant> (Sverdlovsk region)
- LLC -Atemarsky building materials> (Mordovia)
Ukraine
Armenia
Georgia

5. Foreign trade operations in diatomite in 1999-2008

5.1. Export-import of diatomite in Russia
- 5.1.1. Export
- 5.1.2. Import
5.2. Export-import of diatomite in Ukraine
- 5.2.1. Export
- 5.2.2. Import
5.3. Export-import of diatomite in Armenia

6. Review of prices on diatomite in the CIS in 1999-2008

6.1. Prices in Russia
- 6.1.1. Domestic prices
- 6.1.2. Export-import prices
6.2. Prices in Ukraine
6.3. Prices in Armenia

7. Consumption of diatomite in the CIS in 1999-2008

7.1. Consumption of diatomite in Russia
- 7.1.1. Supply-demand balance
- 7.1.2. Pattern of diatomite consumption
7.2. Consumption of diatomite in Ukraine

8. Forecast of production and consumption of diatomite products in CIS countries up to 2015

Appendix. Addresses and contact data of producers and consumers of diatomite products in the CIS

List of Tables:

Table 1. Mining of diatomite in the world in 1999-2008, kt
Table 2. Characteristics of market of diatomite in USA in 1999-2008, kt, $/t
Table 3. Average prices on diatomite products at market of USA in 2007, $/t, %
Table 4. The main deposits of diatomite in the territory of Russia
Table 5. Physico-chemical and technological characteristics of the Azeri diatomite
Table 6. Textural characteristics of diatomite of various deposits
Table 7. Requirements, imposed on diatomite for various branches of industry
Table 8. Regulated quality data of heat-insulating diatomite
Table 9. Regulated quality data of roasted diatomite pebble
Table 10. Commodity pattern of production of key producers of diatomite products
Table 11. Mining of diatomite by Russian enterprises in 1999-2008, thousand m3
Table 12. Quality data of foam diatomite brick KPD 400-I
Table 13. Quality data of foam diatomite roasted pebble KPDO-I
Table 14. Technical characteristics of biosilica
Table 15. The main Russian consumers of foam diatomite brick of LLC <Diatomite combine> in 2002-2008, t
Table 16. The main foreign consumers of foam diatomite brick of LLC <Diatomite combine> in 2005-2008, t
Table 17. The main Russian consumers of crude diatomite of LLC <Diatomite combine> in 2002-2008, t
Table 18. Quality data of filtering powders of LLC <Inzensky plant of filtering materials>
Table 19. Characteristics of roasted diatomite pebble of LLC <Inzensky plant of filtering materials>
Table 20. Manufacture of diatomite products LLC <Inzensky plant of filtering materials> in 2005-2008, t, thousand m3
Table 21. The main Russian consumers of products of LLC <Inzensky plant of filtering materials> in 2002-2008, t
Table 22. Regional pattern of exports of diatomite products of LLC <Inzensky plant of filtering materials> in 1999-2008, t
Table 23. The main consumers of foam diatomite brick of JSC <Potaninsky plant of building materials <Polistrom> in 2002-2008, t
Table 24. Properties of diatomite Kamyshlovsky deposits
Table 25. Physico-mechanical properties of diatomite of Kamyshlovsky deposit
Table 26. Technical characteristics of SDA-F
Table 27. Physico-chemical characteristics of filtering and sorption materials
Table 28. Physico-chemical characteristics of DAK-F
Table 29. Physico-chemical characteristics of DIAKUR
Table 30. Consumers of diatomite products of LLC <Kamyshlovsky brick plant> in 2005-2008, t
Table 31. Quality data of kizelgurs of JSC <Kirovograd mechanical plant>
Table 32. Export of diatomite filtering powder of JSC <Kirovograd mechanical plant> to Russia in 1999-2008, t, $/t
Table 33. Volumes of foreign trade operations of Russia in diatomite in 1999-2008 in bulk and in money terms
Table 34. Volumes of export of diatomite in bulk and in money terms in Russia in 1999-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 35. Regional pattern of export of diatomite from Russia in 2001-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 36. The main suppliers and consignees of diatomite from Russia in 2005-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 37. Volumes of imports of diatomite in Russia in bulk and in money terms in 1999-2008, kt, mln $, $/t
Table 38. Regional pattern of imports of diatomite in Russia in 2001-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 39. The main producer-exporters of diatomite to Russia in 2005-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 40. The main Russian purchasers of imported diatomite in 2005-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 41. Volumes of foreign trade operations of Ukraine in diatomite in 1999-2008, t, kt, $/t
Table 42. Volumes of export of diatomite in Ukraine in bulk and in money terms in 1999-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 43. Regional pattern of export of diatomite from Ukraine in 2001-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 44. The main suppliers and consignees of Ukrainian diatomite in 2005-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 45. Volumes of imports of diatomite in bulk and in money terms to Ukraine in 1999-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 46. Regional pattern of imports of diatomite to Ukraine in 2001-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 47. The main exporters of diatomite to Ukraine in 2005-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 48. The main Ukrainian consignees of imported diatomite in 2005-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 49. Volumes of export of diatomite from Armenia in bulk and in money terms in 2005-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Table 50. The main importers of diatomite from Armenia in 2005-2008, t, $/t
Table 51. Price-list on products of LLC <Diatomite combine>, Rubles/m3
Table 52. Price-list on products of JSC <Potaninsky plant of building materials <Polistrom>, Rubles/thousand pieces
Table 53. Price-list on products of LLC <Kamyshlovsky brick plant>, Rubles/thousand m3
Table 54. Price-list on products of LLC <Inzensky plant of filtering materials>, Rubles/t
Table 55. Average export-import prices on diatomite in Russia in 1999-2008, $/t
Table 56. Average export prices on diatomite products from Russia in 2001-2008, t, $/t
Table 57. Average import prices on diatomite products in Russia in 2001-2008, t, $/t
Table 58. Average export-import prices on diatomite in Ukraine in 1999-2008, $/t
Table 59. Average export prices on diatomite products in Ukraine in 2001-2008, t, $/t
Table 60. Average import prices on diatomite products in Ukraine in 2001-2008, t, $/t
Table 61. Supply-demand balance of diatomite in Russia in 1999-2008, kt, %
Table 62. Sectoral pattern of consumption of diatomite products in Russia in 2008, kt, %
Table 63. The main Russian consumers of diatomite products in 2003-2008, t
Table 64. Supply-demand balance of diatomite in Ukraine in 1999-2008, kt, %

List of Figures:

Figure 1. Fields of application of siliceous rocks
Figure 2. Regional pattern of diatomite mining in the world in 2008, %
Figure 3. Dynamics of mining of diatomite in Russia in 1999-2008, thousand m3
Figure 4. Dynamics of production of foam diatomite brick by LLC <Diatomite combine> in 1999-2008, thousand m3
Figure 5. Regional pattern of sales of foam diatomite brick of LLC <Diatomite combine> in 2008, %
Figure 6. Regional pattern of sales of foam diatomite brick of JSC <Polistrom> in 2008, %
Figure 7. Dynamics of export and imports of diatomite in Russia in 1999-2008, kt
Figure 8. Dynamics of export and average export prices on diatomite from Russia in 1999-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Figure 9. Dynamics of imports and average import prices on diatomite, supplied to Russia in 1999-2008, kt, mln $, $/t
Figure 10. Dynamics of export and imports of diatomite in Ukraine in 1999-2008, kt
Figure 11. Dynamics of export and average export prices on diatomite in Ukraine in 1999-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Figure 12. Dynamics of imports and average import prices on diatomite in Ukraine in 1999-2008, kt, mln $, $/t
Figure 13. Dynamics of export and average export prices on diatomite in Armenia in 2005-2008, t, thousand $, $/t
Figure 14. Dynamics of export and import prices on diatomite products in Russia in 1999-2008, $/t
Figure 15. Dynamics of export and import prices on diatomite products in Ukraine in 1999-2008, $/t
Figure 16. Dynamics of export prices on diatomite products from Armenia, supplied to Russia in 2005-2008, $/t
Figure 17. Dynamics of <apparent> consumption of diatomite in Russia in 1999-2008, kt
Figure 18. Dynamics of <apparent> consumption of diatomite in Ukraine in 1999-2008, kt
Figure 19. Forecast of mining of diatomite in the CIS up to 2015, thousand m3

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Diatomite Market Research in the CIS and Forecast of Its Development in the Crisis Conditions

Introduction

Abstract