Recent benification testing of the Table Mountain nepheline for use of the material in clear glass has been successful and this opens the way to competiting with manufactured soda ash.

Nepheline syenite is a unique and desirable replacement material for manufactured soda ash in the manufacture of ceramics and glass allowing for a thinner, stronger, lighter weight bottle. As nepheline syenite has a lower fusing point the energy cost is less.

Nepheline also is a superior material for use in building the nuclear waste disposal "glass logs" Westinghouse has been working on at Hanford, Washington, 300 miles away.

Even so, the price paid for nepheline syenite used in manufacturing glass has historically been driven by the competitive cost of soda ash. In 1993 US consumption of soda ash was 10.1 million tons, at an average price of $98 per ton, bulk, carload lot, FOB. The historic low in the last 20 years for same was $61.00 per ton.

Considering that a gold assay of $40 per ton is enough to spark a rush, this 10 million ton market has to be considered a bonanza.

Nepheline in the manufacture of insulation materials such as roofing granules with an R factor and rock wool insulation, and in foam carpet backing. It also may be used in industrial pollution control ,and of as a filler for the manafactue of ceramics, and paper,

The presence of iron is a plus when the material is used in tab roofing in that the dyes are less prone to fading. As there are a couple of roofing manufactures in Oregon, and the cost to develop this market minimal, it is suggested roofing granuales be the first commerical product.

Nephelines use in plastic extenders and resin systems that have the strength of steel, but not the weight, and in space-age paints is perhaps the most exciting developements laterly. Specialized marine paints have been making use of the glass-like qualities of to protect ships from corrosion, and to save fuel.

According to the British Geological Survey, gross production of nepheline syenite worldwide for such uses for the year 1987 was: USSR 1,900,000 tons Canada 900,000 tons Norway 350,000 tons Prices for Canadian ceramic grade nepheline syenite listed in Industrial Minerals (London) in December 1987, were $66 per ton for, 200 mesh, bagged; and $99 per ton for filler-extender grade, bagged. Prices in the very new future are expected to soar.

Nepheline syenite is finding applications as a replacement for quartz silica, it may be suitable for steel, and much interest in using nepheline in the glass containers used to transport nuclear waste has been shown by a number of reasearchers.

A market that should not be overlooked, due to the West Coast location versus shipping from Vermont and Georgia, is that granite dimension stone prices in 1987 averaged $34 a ton for irregular-shaped stone and rubble, and $343 per ton for dressed slabs and blocks for buildings. In 1987 a total of $107,056,000 worth of dimension granite was sold in the United States, at an average value of $170 per ton, or $0.66 per cubic foot.

As the recorded production of all dimension stones for the Pacific Northwest in 1987 was only 297 tons, compared with 466,739 tons total from Georgia, Indiana, and Vermont location may be a positive factor.

An interesting aside, considering location and ease of shipping, is that in 1987, according to the Bureau of Census, 31,320 tons of rough granite was exported from the U. S. (primarily from Vermont and Georgia) to Japan for finishing into the gray monuments that are used exclusively throughout that country in place of marble headstones. The value of this material was $4,478,760, at $143 per ton.

NephelineSyenite.com, an HTML version of this site can be seen of the Lincoln County, Oregon nepheline syenite property for sale, lease or joint venture.