About Talc

Talc is one of the most important industrial minerals and is the most common mineral for daily use as a body and face powder. Talcum Powder, the name derived from the mineral itself, is used in most urban homes the world over. The invention of perfumed talcum powder has been a contributing factor in the growth of modern fashions in cosmetics. The use of talc was known to civilizations in antiquity. The ancient craftsmen of the Mohenjodaro and Harappa civilization, (in Sindh, now in Pakistan), about 5000 years ago, exercised their skill on steatite, engraving their seals with representations of animals and mythological signs, before subjecting the carving to heat to acquire hard, white lustrous, enameled surfaces. Small sculptures, ornate bosses and vessels were also made from the mineral during those early times. 

Pulverized talc has wide industrial applications as filler in rubber, textile, plastic, linoleum, asbestos products, polishes and soaps; as a loading agent for paper of all kinds; as a carrier of insecticidal and pesticidal dusts and for coating calcium ammonium fertilizer. Most of the rubber manufacturers use talc powder as a lubricant to prevent ungalvanized rubber goods from sticking. The purer variety of steatite after calcination, industrially called ‘Lava’ is used in the manufacture of low loss ceramic materials required for high frequency insulations in all kinds of radio, television and related instruments. Bricks made out of crushed steatite bonded by sodium silicate are used for the manufacture of furnaces in which argentiferous lead is softened before desilverising. Paper industry accounts for about 50% of the total consumption, in the domestic industry, 15% is shared by the insecticide and pesticide industries and only 3% by talcum powder manufacturers, 10% is in Pharmaceuticals Industry. The remaining quantity is consumed in textile, ceramics, paints, rubber, foundry facing and other industries.

The use in various industries depends on the quality and type of talc which is defined by its whiteness, softness, particle sizes and chemical and mineral compositions.

Use In

Pharmaceutical Industry

Because of talc’s crystalline platy structure and softness, talc is used as a lubricant or glidant in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical tablets. It is also commonly used as an in ingredient in enteric (time release) tablet coating formulations. Talc has been shown to improve direct compression of tablet formulation disintegration properties and can be used in combination with magnesium stearate to restore disintegration and dissolution properties caused by the addition of magnesium stearate as a lubricant. Smaller particle size talc’s have also been shown to improve lubricant efficiency.