Gypsum and anhydrite

Notholt, R.N.; Highley, D.E.. 1975 Gypsum and anhydrite. London, UK, HMSO, 43pp. (Mineral Dossier No. 13)

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Abstract/Summary

Gypsum (CaS04.2H20)and anhydrite (CaS04) are naturally occurring forms of calcium sulphate. Gypsum is a very important raw material for the building industry, being used principally in the manufacture of plaster and plasterboard, and as a retarder in Portland cement. Anhydrite is used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid and cement clinker and was used in the United Kingdom until 1971 in the production of the fertiliser ammonium sulphate. Gypsum and anhydrite are widely distributed in the United Kingdom, occurring mainly in rocks of Permian and Triassic age in the East Midlands and northern England and, to a lesser extent, in Upper Jurassic strata in southern England. Beds from 1.8 to 4.5 m thick are worked, either by opencast or underground mining methods. There are substantial workable reserves of both minerals, although total resources of gypsum are much more limited because most gypsum deposits occur near the surface and pass into anhydrite at shallow depth. A large, potentially important source of calcium sulphate is phosphogypsum, which is obtained chiefly as waste in the manufacture of phosphoric acid. The United Kingdom is one of the world's major producers of gypsum and anhydrite, ranking sixth in 1973, when the combined output of these minerals amounted to some 4.2 million tonnes. Of this total 3.8 million tonnes was gypsum, of which about 35 per cent came from Nottinghamshire, 25 per cent from Sussex and 22 per cent from the Vale of Eden south of Carlisle. The remainder was produced in Staffordshire and North Yorkshire. Most of the anhydrite is produced near Whitehaven in Cumbria, although small quantities are still mined in the Vale of Eden. Imports, consisting essentially of raw gypsum and gypsum plasters are relatively small, and amounted to 211,000 tonnes in 1973, almost entirely from the Irish Republic and France. Exports are very small, amounting in 1973 to about 8,000 tonnes of gypsum plaster which was shipped principally to the Irish Republic. In addition, some 6,800 tonnes of raw gypsum was exported, mainly to the USA, as well as nearly 2,600 tonnes of plasterboard, chiefly to France. The major gypsum producing company in the United Kingdom is British Gypsum Limited, the largest subsidiary of BPB Industries Limited. Gypsum is also produced between Nottingham and Grantham by The Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Limited and, on a much smaller scale, by H J Baldwin and Company Limited near East Leake, also in Nottinghamshire. Anhydrite is produced almost entirely by Albright and Wilson Limited, although small quantities are produced also by British Gypsum Limited.

Item Type:	Publication - Report
Programmes:	BGS Programmes > Economic Minerals
Funders/Sponsors:	Institute of Geological Sciences
Additional Keywords:	Mineral, Gypsum, Anhydrite
NORA Subject Terms:	Earth Sciences
Date made live:	25 Jul 2025 11:40 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/539924

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