Today’s beautiful homes and attractive commercial and industrial buildings result from the development of high-quality, durable components manufactured by the building products industry.
Limestone, or ground calcium carbonate, is one of the most commonly used minerals in building products and construction applications, along with a related mineral, dolomite, a calcium magnesium carbonate. As fillers and extenders, these materials provide improved performance and cost benefits to a broad range of industrial, environmental, and agriculture applications that impact our daily lives. Building product applications include asphalt roofing shingles, vinyl floor tile and sheeting, tape joint compounds, glass, stucco, concrete, masonry, and swimming pool and spa plasters. Talcs are also used, generally in joint compounds.
Chemical purity, as well as optical brightness and color, which vary with each deposit, play a major role in the end value for the application. Combining extensive Research and Development with Application Technology and support to customer trials, Specialty Minerals is well positioned to supply you with high-performance products or to work with you to develop new grades tailored to your building product application.
Building Products With SMI Minerals
Specialty Minerals ground limestones, dolomites, and talcs play functional roles in a variety of components used in residential and commercial construction, such as:
- Roofing including TPO and EPDM systems
- Asphalt Shingles and Roofing
- Masonry and Concrete Blocks
- Stucco
- Flooring including vinyl composite tile (VCT), vinyl sheet flooring, cove molding and carpet backing.
- Joint Compounds and Mastics
- Cast Polymers and Cultured Marble
- Swimming Pool and Spa Plaster
Click on one of these applications to learn more about how a SMI mineral can improve your building product.
Specialty Minerals Products for Building Components
Specialty Minerals supplies crushed, screened, ground, and pulverized limestone and dolomite products direct from our quarries in Adams, Massachusetts, Canaan, Connecticut, and Lucerne Valley, California. Talc is mined and ground in Barretts, Montana, and imported talc ore is ground in Mount Vernon.
- SMI Eastern Limestones – high brightness ground calcium carbonates (GCCs), also called ground limestones, manufactured in sizes ranging from 1” decorative stones down to 3 micron fine industrial grades. Adams, Massachusetts is the location of the mine and plant.
- SMI Eastern Dolomites – ground and screened dolomites (calcium magnesium carbonates) from 4 mesh to 325 mesh, from a mine and plant in Canaan, Connecticut.
- SMI Western Limestones – high and medium brightness ground calcium carbonates, spanning the particle range from 10 mesh coarser grades down to 2 micron industrial grades. This plant is located in Lucerne Valley, California.
- SMI Talcs for Building Products – white talcs used in joint compounds, manufactured in Barretts, Montana.
Learn more:
- SMI minerals for asphalt shingles and roofing
- SMI minerals for cast polymers and cultured marble
- SMI minerals for flooring including vinyl composite tile (VCT), vinyl sheet flooring, cove molding and carpet backing.
- SMI minerals for joint compounds and mastics
- SMI minerals for masonry and concrete blocks
- SMI minerals for roofing including TPO and EPDM systems
- SMI minerals for stucco
- SMI minerals for swimming pool and spa plaster
- Downloadable technical data sheets for SMI minerals
- Download information sheet: Products for Concrete and Masonry
- Request a sample
- Tell us about a special product you need
- What is Dolomite? A minerals introductory webpage
- What is Ground Calcium Carbonate (GCC) / Limestone? A mineral introductory webpage
- What is Talc? A minerals introductory webpage
- SMI minerals used in housing and construction. See all the places SMI products are used around your house.
- SMI plant profiles: Adams, Barretts, Lucerne Valley and Canaan
- Building Product exhibitions: Where we are participating, and where you can talk to SMI staff about your formulations.
- Useful Building Material websites




