UNIMIN MINES SNOW-WHITE SILICA

A worker for Unimin Specialty Minerals, Inc., stacks bags of "snow-white" silica, ready for shipment from the processing facility.

This is one of two processing plants for Southern Illinois "Snow-white" silica. The processing facilities are at Tamms and Elco.

A truck loaded with silica from the nearby mine enters the Unimin Specialty Minerals Inc. processing plant at Tamms.

TAMMS, Ill. -- When miners go beneath the ground in Southern Illinois areas around Tamms, Elco and Mill Creek, it is in search of "snow white" silica.

"They've been mining the white silica here for more than 100 years," said Dan Page, regional general manager for Unimin Specialty Minerals Inc. "At one time, the main use of the white silica was in whitewash. Now it is used in a variety of products."

The silica mined in the Southern Illinois area is micro-crystalline silica.

The silica, which is shipped from plant sites at Elco and Tamms in weight sizes of 50, 1,000 and 2,000 pounds, is used in paints and coatings, plastics, rubber, adhesives and sealants and as buffing and polishing compounds.

Southern Illinois is the only area in the country where the snow-white mineral is found, said Page, the plant's manager until Jan. 1 of this year.

In other areas the silica is gray, red or some color in between.

"We produce a wide choice of grades here," added Seibert Cowley, who became plant manager this month.

Unimin Specialty is part of Unimin Corp., the largest silica producer in the United States. The company, based in New Canaan, Conn., is involved in industrial minerals and mining worldwide.

Mining white silica has been active in the Elco, Mill Creek and Tamms area since before the Civil War. Unimin acquired the Elco mining facility in 1989, some 71 years after Illinois Minerals Co. was founded. Illinois Minerals formerly had headquarters in Cairo, Ill.

"We own or lease mineral deeds throughout the immediate area," said Page, who has been with the company 17 years, nine of them in the Elco-Tamms area.

The company uses both open-pit and underground mining methods in the Southern Illinois area.

Some silica can be found near the top of the ground, and is removed by digging pits in what is called open-pit mining. Other silica is found far beneath the surface and may be removed only by digging deep underground.

Unimin has two operations -- Elco and Tamms -- where the ore is crushed and ground.

The Tamms plant produces "Tamsil," crystalline and micro-crystalline silica. The Elco plant produces "Imsil," micro-crystalline silica.

"No single material is as versatile as silica," Page said. "Whether it is used for its stable chemistry or its physical properties, this mineral plays a major role in the market for natural filler materials."

Ground in different particle sizes, silica serves as a filler for a broad range of paints and coatings.

"Silica enhances the performance of coatings," Page said. "It will resist acid rains and other weather elements, and interior wall paints have a better stain resistance."

As a buffing compound, the "soft" white silica provides a smooth finish. The silica is also suitable for incorporation into a wide range of adhesives and sealants, including tile and flooring systems, grouts, as well as performance epoxies.

The silica is often used in electrical epoxy compounds that incorporate the silica to combine its advantages of heat releases and electrical resistance.

Low density polyethylene films also incorporate the Imsil silica for effective anti-blocking.

Trucks have replaced railroads in the shipment of silica.

"We mine about 75,000 tons a year," Page said. "We have a real silica boom here in the spring. Presently we're working with what we consider our winter season crew."

Unimin is the biggest employer in the Tamms and Elco area, Tamms Mayor Walter Pang said.

"Unimin is a good corporate citizen."

Employment reaches 75 during the spring and summer months.

One thing company representatives like to talk about is its safety record.

The company has 1,800 days, or five years, without time off for injuries, Page said.

One operation, along Route 127 at Elco, includes an office, laboratory, production facility and large warehouse. The Tamms plant is situated along the former Missouri & Pacific and the Illinois Central Gulf lines.