Specialty Minerals' production facility in Adams, Massachusetts, has been manufacturing fine industrial mineral products since 1961, and nano precipitated calcium carbonates for more than 25 years. But Adams has been in operation much longer, since 1848, producing limestone for local iron foundries, whitewash manufacturers and agricultural uses. The town of Adams is located in the northwest corner of Massachusetts in the Berkshire Mountains. Before Minerals Technologies Inc. became a publicly traded company in 1992, this plant was part of the minerals operations of Pfizer Inc. It is now part of the Performance Minerals group of Specialty Minerals Inc.
High-brightness and high-calcium limestone ore from the adjacent Specialty Minerals quarry is processed into precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC), quicklime, and ground calcium carbonate (GCC) products. These products are packaged for shipment throughout North America and for export. Adams can ship products in bulk truck and bulk rail, 50-pound bags, and semi-bulk bags. Precipitated calcium carbonate can be shipped as a high solids slurry or a dry powder.
Ore from the Specialty Minerals’ quarry at Adams is selected on the basis of purity and consistency to optimize end use product performance. The precipitated calcium carbonates, ground calcium carbonates and quicklimes made from these ores are functional additives and fillers for use in a number of industrial markets: plastics, caulk and sealants, paint and coatings, food and pharmaceuticals, building products, ink, paper, gel coats, animal feed, and agriculture.
Adams Precipitated Calcium Carbonates
A wide variety of precipitated calcium carbonate is manufactured at Adams; many sizes—from 0.07 micron nano PCC up to 12 microns—and many shapes. They come in both in pharmaceutical and technical grades.
The ViCALity® USP PCCs and CalEssence® USP PCCs are excellent for calcium fortification of food and for pharmaceuticals. The uncoated Albaglos® PCC, Albacar® PCC and Albafil® PCC products, and the coated PCC products, Ultra-Pflex® nano PCC, Super-Pflex® PCC, and the family of Thixo-Carb® nano PCCs provide functionality in plastics applications, sealants, rubber, ink, and paper.
Adams Ground Calcium Carbonates and Limes
The GCC side of the Adams plant produces ground limestones ranging in size from one-quarter inch landscaping chips down to 3 micron industrial grades.
To complement the USP PCCs, high purity food grade Vicron® GCCs are manufactured for food and chewing gum applications. Adams also manufactures fine ground GCC for paint, plastics and other industrial applications. Products include technical grades of Vicron® GCC and Marblewhite® GCC. Coarser ground limestone, Vical®, AFG™ and ATF™ GCC provide excellent value in roofing, masonry, joint compounds and other building products, as well as for agricultural and environmental uses. High calcium chemical and metallurgical limes are also produced at Adams.
Adams Quality
The Adams plant is registered with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a Drug Manufacturing Facility. Subsequently, the Adams plant follows GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices), and its food and pharmaceutical products are Kosher certified. Since the Adams plant is an ISO 9001 certified facility, the quality demands of all markets are met with comprehensive quality monitoring and continuous improvement programs.
Learn more:
- Specialty applications for SMI Performance Minerals products
- SMI minerals for building products
- SMI products for plastics
- SMI products for paint and coatings
- Other SMI Performance Minerals plants
- About Specialty Minerals Inc.
- What is Ground Calcium Carbonate (GCC) / Limestone?
- What is Lime / Quicklime?
- What is Precipitated Calcium Carbonate (PCC)?
- What is Nano Precipitated Calcium Carbonate?
