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Mines and Quarries
Gypsum is a rock extracted from the ground. Extraction is achieved through either mines or quarries. Mines are created by drilling and digging deep shafts into the ground until a rich deposit of gypsum ore is uncovered. Quarries, in contrast, are large, open pits on the ground's surface.
Rock Pile
Upon removal from the mine or quarry, the gypsum rock is stored in large piles. The rock is then fed into a rock crusher with a vibrating pan feeder. A pan feeder is a conveyer belt that supplies a constant, even flow of rock to the crusher. The crusher processes the rock into pieces 2 inches or smaller.
Rock Dryer
The rock dryer removes excess surface moisture from the rock. It is a heated, rotating vessel that spins the rocks to remove moisture evenly.
Raymond Mill
The Raymond Mill is a machine that uses rotating rollers to squeeze and crush rock. The mill crushes the gypsum rock into a fine powder.
Calcination
The calcination process involves essentially boiling the gypsum. Gypsum's chemical composition is CaSO42H2O. Calcination removes most of the water molecules that are bound inside the gypsum rock. This is what is known as plaster of Paris. The calcification process is what allows the addition of water to return gypsum to its solid rock state.