Gypsum industry news

UK: British Gypsum’s mine at Brightling near Robertsbridge has provided gypsum samples to researchers from the Natural History Museum. The rock specimens are intended to aid the scientists in looking at signs of past life in preparation for a joint European Space Agency and Russian Roscosmos State Corporation mission to send a robotic rover to mars in July 2020, according to the Rye & Battle Observer newspaper. Previously, NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity found bright veins of a mineral, which appeared to be gypsum, in 2011.

"Minerals like those found at Brightling hide clues within them that can tell us about the history of liquid water where they formed, and they have the potential to trap and preserve organic material. Studying these natural fresh samples on Earth that mimic not just the minerals, but also the formation environments we see on Mars, will give us an insight into the potential for life to be detectable at the ExoMars2020 landing site," said Louisa Preston, UK Space Agency Aurora Research Fellow and member of the Department of Earth Sciences at the Natural History Museum.

US: USG Corporation has announced it has partnered with Honeybee Robotics, a spacecraft technology and robotics company, for the field testing of Honeybee's Planetary Deep Drill System. The field testing, which will take place at USG's Plaster City gypsum quarry in Salton Sea, California is part of Honeybee's broader Mars exploration program, which aims to better understand the planet and the capabilities needed to send humans to the planet by the 2030s.

"We are honored to be the only company in our industry to play a role in this innovative endeavour to advance planetary exploration and the broader field of science," said Dominic Dannessa, Senior Vice President of Operations and Chief Technology Officer at USG. "We believe innovation comes from inspired thinking inside our company and outside of it, so sharing our geotechnical expertise with Honeybee was a natural fit."

USG's Plaster City gypsum quarry was selected by Honeybee as the ideal site to test the Planetary Deep Drill due to gypsum's similarity to cryogenic ice observed on Mars, Enceladus, Europa and other planetary bodies. Honeybee will drill 100 feet into the depths of the gypsum quarry, which is significantly deeper than drills previously deployed to Mars were capable of accessing. The field test will assess the functionality of the Planetary Deep Drill and provide data for future improvements and enhancements. Scientists have suggested that inside gypsum crystals may be the ideal environment for life to exist on the surface or near surface or Mars.

Drilling at Plaster City will take place from mid-November 2015 until mid-December 2015.

US: NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity has found bright veins of a mineral, which appears to be gypsum, deposited on Mars. Analysis of the vein will help improve understanding of the history of wet environments on the planet.

"This tells a slam-dunk story that water flowed through underground fractures in the rock," said Steve Squyres of Cornell University, principal investigator for Opportunity. "This stuff is a fairly pure chemical deposit that formed in place right where we see it. That can't be said for other gypsum seen on Mars or for other water-related minerals Opportunity has found. It's not uncommon on Earth, but on Mars, it's the kind of thing that makes geologists jump out of their chairs."

The latest findings by Opportunity were presented on 7 December 2011 at the American Geophysical Union's conference in San Francisco.

The vein examined most closely by Opportunity is about 1cm – 2cm wide, 40cm to 50cm long, and it protrudes slightly higher than the bedrock on either side of it. Observations by the rover reveal this vein and others like it within an apron surrounding a segment of the rim of Endeavour Crater.

In November 2011 researchers used the Microscopic Imager and Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer on the rover's arm and multiple filters of the Panoramic Camera on the rover's mast to examine the vein, which is informally named "Homestake." The spectrometer identified plentiful calcium and sulphur, in a ratio pointing to relatively pure calcium sulphate. The multi-filter data from the camera suggest gypsum, a hydrated calcium sulphate.

Observations from orbit have detected gypsum on Mars previously. A dune field of windblown gypsum on far northern Mars resembles the glistening gypsum dunes in White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, US. However the Homestake vein is the first time the mineral has been spotted where it formed.