Introduction

Wherever there is a natural occurrence of volcanic rocks, humans have developed multiple uses for these materials. These uses range from cut slabs of tuff for construction to very fine ash for polishing automobiles. Some volcanic materials have no immediate benefit apparent to the public, such as the bentonites used in drilling muds. However, others provide esthetic benefits such as the cut ignimbrite blocks that were used to create the Spanish colonial cathedral in Guadalajara, Mexico.

This chapter is a summary of uses for volcanic materials, which have, for clarity, been grouped as (1) pumice and ash, (2) pozzolan, (3) quarried tuff, (4) perlite, (5) basaltic scoria and lava, and (6) volcanic clays and zeolites. For complete coverage of resources, mining and processing technologies, and environmental and public-health problems associated with that mining, the reader should begin by consulting the series Industrial Minerals and Rocks, which is updated on a regular basis by the Society of Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. In addition to an extensive literature, there are many World Wide Web pages on specific rock types and their industrial uses.

Most of what is covered in this chapter are the industrial uses of volcanic materials by, for example, corporations that mine bentonite to make drilling muds; there are many publications available on these topics. More difficult to characterize are the small-scale uses of volcanic materials by artisans, farmers, and road builders in developing countries; there are few publications on this topic except in the newsletters and publications of the Association of Geoscientists for International Development.