3/4″ Structural Stone

Description

STALITE’s strong end-use products begin with the production processing of our raw material slate. Slate possesses the high strength and lasting durability necessary to create a superior lightweight aggregate. Unlike shale or clay deposits formed from mineral or organic sediments, the slate used in STALITE was formed from volcanic ash. This volcanic ejecta, free of impurities which were burned away at very high temperatures, was deposited in a wet environment and compressed under extreme pressures for millions of years. The resulting material is an extraordinary slate deposit whose unique properties contribute to making STALITE the very finest high performance lightweight aggregate in the world. In the foothills of NC, east of Charlotte, NC is the only known source of slate that is being used as a raw material for rotary kiln expanded slate lightweight aggregate. Several types of raw material can be expanded in a rotary kiln to produce structural lightweight aggregates. These materials can be classified as clays, shales and slates. The primary difference in these three classifications of materials is their strength, density and absorption. Clays and shales are naturally softer, and less dense than slate. After processing in a rotary kiln, clays and shales have 24-hour absorptions ranging between 15% and 30% (compared to 6% for STALITE). During mixing or pumping concrete, clay and shale absorptions can be as high as 50% (compared to 9% for STALITE). Due to the higher material strength of STALITE slate aggregate, higher strength concretes can be achieved with lower cement contents allowing for more economical concrete mixes. BEGIN STRONGER = END STRONGER.