Perlite

R12
by Z.D. Hora
Retired, British Columbia Geological Survey, Victoria, B.C., Canada

IDENTIFICATION

SYNONYMS: Onion skin rhyolitic glass, pitchstone, obsidian.

COMMODITIES (BYPRODUCTS): Expanding perlite (pumice, foundry flux,

synthetic zeolite feedstock)

EXAMPLES (British Columbia (MINFILE) - Canada/International): Frenier

(092O 072), Francois Lake (093K 001), Uncha Lake (093F 026), Mount Tuzo
(Quebec), No Agua, Grants, Socorro (New Mexico, USA), Caliente (Nevada, USA),
Malad City (Idaho, USA), Greece, Italy, Turkey.

GEOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

CAPSULE DESCRIPTION: Hydrated volcanic glass, usually of rhyolite

composition, formed through secondary alteration by the incorporation of water
into the glass/silica structure. It is often distinguished by vitreous, pearly luster
and concentric (onion skin) fractures. When heated, it will expand up to ten to
forty times its original volume.

TECTONIC SETTINGS: Orogenic rift belts and volcanic arcs.

DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENT/GEOLOGICAL SETTING: Rapidly cooled

volcanic rocks of rhyolite composition occurring as the glassy parts of domes and
flows, vitric tephra, chill margins of dikes and sills, and welded ash-flow tuffs.

AGE OF MINERALIZATION: Normally Tertiary through middle Quaternary,

occasionally older.

HOST/ASSOCIATED ROCK TYPES: Perlite is hosted by flow domes and lava

flows of rhyolite composition. Most obsidian contains less than 1% of total water
(water left after heating to 105C), the hydration of perlite increases the water
content level to 2 to 5%, but may reach as much as 10%. It is associated with
vitric tephra, ash-flow tuffs, pumiceous rhyolite and pumicite.

DEPOSIT FORM: Perlite deposits are very irregular in shape, reflecting the
original extent of the glassy volcanic rock and the zones that have experienced
significant hydration. The boundaries are usually gradational from perlite to
obsidian to devitrified volcanic glass to a crystalline felsite core. Perlite deposits
are usually measured in hundreds of metres in horizontal dimensions and metres
to tens of metres in the vertical dimension. Big Pine deposit in California has a
perlite thickness of 27 metres; Picketpost Mountain in Arizona is 2 to 17 metres
thick. The No Agua Peaks deposit in New Mexico is considered the largest in North
America and is 50 metres thick, covering 10 square kilometres. The Socorro
perlite deposit in New Mexico is 200 metres thick and covers an area of 0.7
square kilometres.

TEXTURE/STRUCTURE: Many flows and domes are texturally zoned, reflecting

the rapid cooling of exterior surfaces and slower crystallization within the interior.
The glass mantle can occur at the base, margin, and/or near the top of the flow.
Hydration and resulting perlitic cracks due to expansion by the incorporation of
water are superimposed on primary textures of flow. Perlite can have classical,
concentric, and arcuate onion skin-like fractures with remnant obsidian kernels; a
granular texture with obsidian remnants absent; or a pumiceous and vesicular
character.

ORE: Expandable hydrated siliceous volcanic glass. Most commercial perlites are
high silica rhyolites with 75 to 77.5% of SiO2. In a few countries, obsidian and
pitchstone are also expanded.
GANGUE MINERALOGY (Principal and subordinate): Non-hydrated obsidian,
devitrified glass, microlites or small phenocrysts of feldspar, mica and quartz;
sometimes with chalcedony and clay fracture filling.

ALTERATION MINERALOGY: Since volcanic glass is unstable, devitrification

changes Tertiary age or older volcanic glass into a microcrystalline equivalent
(there may be some rare exceptions of older volcanic glass being preserved).
Hydrothermal alteration can introduce clay minerals and/or chalcedony and can
produce deposits of halloysite.

WEATHERING: Because of high fracture density, exposed perlite is highly

susceptible to both physical and chemical weathering. Chemical weathering can
be very fast in humid and temperate climate conditions. Weathering products
such as palagonite, clay minerals and calcium carbonate are commonly present
as infilling of cracks and fissures. Excessive fines and clay presence may render
the perlite deposit uneconomic.

ORE CONTROLS: Perlite forms carapaces that partially or fully comprise

extrusive domes and flows, tephra and tuff beds, where percolating meteoric
water had access to hydrate the glassy volcanic material. Since felsic flows are
viscous, most perlite deposits from proximal to the volcanic vent.

GENETIC MODEL: Glassy component of rhyolite volcanic rocks wherever

accessible to percolating meteoric water, mostly on top, but sometimes also at
the bottom of the dome flow. Hydration of obsidian and the formation of perlite is
a gradual process, coincident with the inward migration of meteoric water into
glass selvages and its incorporation into glass structure as molecular water.
Hydration rate slows with decreasing temperature and with increasing calcium
and magnesium content in the glass. The rate increases with increasing silica
content.

ASSOCIATED DEPOSIT TYPES: Pumice, pumiceous rhyolite (R11).

COMMENTS: Petrological definition of perlite covers all glass with perlitic texture,
including the non-expanding varieties. The presence of crystalline silica is
considered as a potential health hazard, and the product has to be controlled and
handled accordingly. Some perlites are sensitive to decrepitation. This can be
controlled by preheating and by adjusting the temperature regime during the
expansion process.

EXPLORATION GUIDES

GEOCHEMICAL SIGNATURE: Felsic volcanics with more than 65% silica,

preferably greater, up to 75%; water contents of 2 to 10%.

GEOPHYSICAL SIGNATURE: Hydrated glass can be distinguished from non-

hydrated obsidian by electrical properties.

OTHER EXPLORATION GUIDES: A small portable blow torch is the most

effective field test. A potential perlite either expands or decrepitates; non-
expanding rock just glows red. Detailed mapping must delineate rock types,
perlite textures and the abundance of contaminants, such as clay, felsite,
phenocrysts and obsidian. A great variability of textures and zonation require
careful deposit modeling. For drilling the potential deposit, the core diameter
must be large enough to ensure high and representative core recovery.

ECONOMIC FACTORS

TYPICAL GRADE AND TONNAGE: Average perlite has an expanded density

between 20 and 40 kg per cubic metre. Some deposits can contain up to 15%
non-perlite material. The quality of perlite products is controlled by performance
standards developed by the Perlite Institute, as well as ASTM specifications.
Deposits range in size from less than 5 Mt to more than 100 Mt. The Frenier
deposit produced 6000 tonnes over 3 years from an inferred reserve of 3.8 Mt. In
New Zealand, the Maungaiti dome, and at Awana, on Great Barrier Island, there
are 20 Mt and 100 Mt of inferred resources respectively. Annual production in
North America is reported between 500 000 and 600 000 tonnes annually. It
comes from 10 production centres in western USA.

ECONOMIC LIMITATIONS: Perlite is usually mined from open pits (the Caliente
deposit in Nevada is underground) and processed in expanding plants located in
market areas. Raw perlite is shipped by truck, or by rail and boat to more distant
processing plants. The average capacity of an expanding plant is about 10 000
tonnes per year. As a relatively large volume product, perlite products are
sensitive to transportation costs.

END USES: Crushed perlite is heated to between 900 and 1200C to create
steam in the molten rock that produces gas bubbles. The product is cooled to
form globules of artificial pumice. The light, fluffy globules are known
commercially as perlite and marketed with different brand names. They have a
porous texture with low density and thermal conductivity and high sound
absorption and chemical stability. Construction uses, such as insulation products
and acoustic tile, accounted for 66% of North American consumption in the late
1990s. Horticulture and a variety of fillers accounted for 19%, and filter aid
products make up the remaining 15%.

IMPORTANCE: Important for horticulture and for construction products.

Expanded perlite has a very limited number of substitutes; therefore, it can be
shipped considerable distances. For example, Greece has exported perlite to the
eastern seaboard of North America, while New Mexico supplies Canada and
numerous eastern US locations.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Austin, G.S. and Barker, J.M. (1994): Production and Marketing of Perlite in
the Western United States; in Tabilio. M. and Dupras, D.L., Editors, 29th Forum
on the Geology of Industrial Minerals: Proceedings, California Department of
Conservation, Special Publication 110, pages 39-68.
Barker, J.M., Chamberlin, R.M., Austin, G.S. and Jenkins, D.A. (1996):
Economic Geology of Perlite in New Mexico; in Hoffman, G. K., Barker, J. M.,
Zidek, J., and Gilson, N. [Editors], Proceedings of the 31st Forum on the Geology
of Industrial Minerals-The Borderland Forum, New Mexico Institute of Mining and
Technology, Bulletin 154, pages 165170.
Barker, J.M. and Bodycomb, F. (1996): Perlite Markets: Expanding Or Not?;
in notes for Industrial Minerals '96, conference in Toronto organized by Blendon
Information Services, October,19 pages.
Bolen, W.P. (2001): Perlite; in Mineral Industry Surveys, U.S. Geological
Survey, pages 56.156.7.
Chamberlin, R.M. and Barker, J.M. (1996): Genetic Aspects of Commercial
Perlite Deposits in New Mexico; in Austin G.S., Hoffman, G.K., Barker, J.M., Zidek
J. and Gilson, N., [Editors], Proceedings of the 31st Forum on the Geology of
Industrial Minerals The Borderland Forum, New Mexico Institute of Mining and
Technology, Bulletin 154, pages 171186.
Gunning, D.F. and McNeal & Associates Consultants Ltd. (1994): Perlite
Market Study; BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources, Open File
1994-21, 44 pages.
Friedman, I., Smith, R.L. and Long, W.D. (1966): Hydration of Natural Glass
and Formation of Perlite, Geological Society of America, Bulletin, Volume 77,
pages 323328.
Harben, P.W. and Kuzvart, M. (1996): Industrial Minerals. A Global Geology,
Metal Bulletin PLC, London, UK, 462 pages.
Rotella, M. and Simandl, G.J. (2003): Marilla Perlite Volcanic Glass
Occurrence, British Columbia; in Geological Fieldwork 2002, B.C. Ministry of
Energy and Mines, Paper 2003-1, pages 165174.
Thompson, B., Brathwaite, B. and Christie, T. (1995): Pumice; in Mineral
Wealth of New Zealand; Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences Limited,
Information Series 33, page 133.
White, G.V. (2001): Perlite in British Columbia; in Dunlop, S. and Simandl, G.,
Editors, Industrial Minerals in Canada, Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy
and Petroleum, Special Volume 53, pages 5965.
Whitson, D.N. (1982): Geology of the Perlite Deposit at No Agua Peaks, New
Mexico; in Austin, G.S., Editor, Industrial Rocks and Minerals of the Southwest,
New Mexico Bureau of Mines & Mineral Resources, Circular 182, pages 8996.