British Columbia Hydromagnesite-Magnesite Resources: Potential Flame Retardant Material

Hydromagnesite occurrences in British Columbia have been recognized since the beginning of the 19th century (Reinecke, 1920; Young, 1915). However, the known occurrences of hydromagnesite are too small to compete with the large sparry magnesite deposits in British Columbia (Grant, 1987; Simandl et al., 1996 a,b and Simandl, 2000) as potential sources of raw materials for the production of industrial grade caustic, dead-burned and fused magnesia or magnesium metal. This paper summarizes the information on British Columbia’s hydromagnesite occurrences based on published data and 2 days of property examination in the 1997 field season. It also identifies a possible market for brucite and these hydrated carbonates as flame retardants. It is the first document that addresses the potential use of hydromagnesite raw material for flame retardants. Also highlighted are the difficulties in developing similar European hydromagnesite-huntite deposits over the last 20 years. Although much effort and focus has been put into the development of these deposits, they still only account for a very small portion of the flame retardant market. In British Columbia, exploration and/or re-evaluation of known hydromagnesite occurrences may result in the discovery of deposits with a potential as a source of natural flame retardants. Rapid growth of the inorganic, natural flame retardant market or participation of the developer with the existing captive market are essential for the successful development of these resources.