Borates

Four minerals represent 90 percent of the borates used by industry worldwide — the sodium borates (tincal and kernite), calcium borate (colemanite) and the sodium-calcium borate (ulexite). Borax is a white crystalline substance, chemically known as sodium tetraborate decahydrate, and is found naturally as the mineral tincal. Boric acid is a colorless crystalline solid sold in technical, national formulary and special quality grades as granules or powder and marketed most often as anhydrous boric acid. Deposits of borates are associated with volcanic activity and arid climates, with the largest economically viable deposits located in the Mojave Desert of the United States near Boron, CA, the Alpide belt in southern Asia and the Andean belt of South America.