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pumice concrete & construction materials
Hess Pumice is a volcanic rock containing 71 percent silica, 13 percent alumina and small amounts of calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc. Basically, an amorphous silica, with the respirable portion (PM10) crystallline silica-free: considered a nuisance dust only. Our pumice is chemically inert and environmentally safe.
(Below: Magnified view of pumice vesicles).
Pumice is classified as a glass because it has no crystal structure.
Whether you want a single bucket of pumice or a shipping container full, Hess Pumice will process and ship the grade and amount you need.
Modern Processing Facilities
Hess Pumice runs two state of the art pumice processing facilities that allow us to create and consistently supply any spec for any need.
Stable Supply
Extensive reserves at Hess' Wright Creek Mine—200-plus year supply—means we're here to stay.
Contact Hess Pumice Products
USES FOR PUMICE
Pumice is Safe and Widely Useful
Hess Pumice is a white foam of volcanic glass—silky, interlocking fibers filled with tiny air bubbles. These frothy vesicles are what give pumice its unique and infinitely useful qualities. Hess crushes and processes it for use in a wide and quite amazing variety of products and industries. Being chemically inert and crystalline silica-free, Hess Pumice is both safe to use and safe for the environment.
Pumice Concrete & Construction Materials
Pumice concrete has several advantages over conventional concrete in many construction applications. Most significant of these is its unique lightweight quality. Other key factors such as workablility, resistance to harsh weather conditions, and a high R-value, make pumice concrete the choice for demanding construction needs. [ MORE ]
Manufactured (man-made) stone veneer is an enduringly popular exterior and interior finish that imparts the sculpted durablity and beauty of stone finishes without the cost and the weight of natural, hand-cut rock. Pumice is the key ingredient to this lightweight construction material. [ MORE ]
Lightweight concrete block made with Hess Pumice is the whitest masonry available—desireable for exposed block applications such as fireplaces, planters and walls.
Due to the exceptional insulating properties of pumice, it is also used as a cavity fill for concrete block walls. [ MORE ]
Polishing & Abrasives
Hess Pumice is used extensively worldwide for critical surface finishing processes—its friable particles fracture and remain sharp-edged when processed to even the sub-micon size—making it ideal for use as a mild abrasive for finishing glass, metal, wood, leather, and plastics. [ MORE ]
Pumice is also the mild abrasive of choice in exfoliating soaps and cleansers, tumbling media, erasers, dental polishing compounds—even stone-washed denim. [ MORE ]
Fillers and Extenders
The near-white color of our pumice, coupled with its chemically and environmentally inert nature, makes it an appealing choice as a filler and extender. Hess produces six NCS grades for use in paint, industrial coatings, stains, rubber compounds, and plastics. [ MORE ]
Cementious Grout
U.S. Grout, a division of Hess Pumice, produces an ultra-fine cementitious grout composed of a finely ground mixture of Portland cement, pumice and dispersant. The ultrafine grout has an average particle size of only a few microns, in stark contrast to typical particle sizes of 60 to 70 microns in conventional cements. This ultrafine grout is ideal for penetrating and sealing extremely small fractures and for fine-grained soils. [ MORE ]
Liquids Filtration
A growing body of research has shown pumice to be an effective filtering media for drinking water. The foamy structure and near-white purity of Hess Pumice makes it ideal to capture and hold cyanobacterial toxins and other impurities found in fouled drinking water. [ MORE ]
The excellent filtration and absorbtion properities of pumice make it useful for other cleaning and filtering uses, such as purifying oils or removing odor.
Blast Mitigation
When used for purposes of blast mitigation, cellular solids, like pumice, collapse at a cellular level beneath the force of the blast, absorbing much of the blast energy and effectively containing the damage. Lightweight, abundant and easily processed to any spec, pumice is proving to be effective and economical. BAE Corporation currently uses our pumice as blast mitigation media in missile and bomb encasements.
Soil Conditioner
Because of its highly porous nature, pumice holds water and air—both critical to well-conditioned, aerated soils. This makes Hess Pumice an excellent soil conditioner for use in potting media and garden soils—and even for critical and hard-used turf applications such as golf greens and sports fields. Because pumice is non-organic, it will not decompose or burn. Pumice is also pH neutral. [ MORE ]
Other Possibilities & Uses for Pumice
Pumice is finding its way into more and more applications and industries that have traditionally relied on other materials. For example:
• As a high-pressure (blast) cleansing media. The softer, gentler abrasion of pumice is replacing the harsh bite of sand in sensitive blasting applications, such as the restorative cleaning of grime and neglect from historic buildings and other constructs.
• As a textile softener and conditioner. The popular process of stone-washing has successfully relyed on pumice to get the job done. Light, carefully sized and rounded pumice stones and specially-designed washing machines combine to soften and condition the appearance of denim and other fabrics.
• As a chemical filtration and transportation medium. For example, pumice is used as a solid carrier-base for spreading fertilizers as well as pesticides and other problem-controlling chemicals. And once it has given up its chemical rider, the pumice remains to condition and improve the soil.
• As a hydroponic medium. Pumice is becoming widely accepted in hydroponic growing processes because it drains readily, is easy to flush and keep clean, does not deteriorate—remaining strong and durable, does not interfere with the transmission of nutrients to the growing plants or damage roots, and does not readily absorb heat from ultraviolet or direct sunlight.
• As a material to control and clean up spills and smother fires. Think of pumice as a mineral sponge: inert, stable, lightweight and much more effective than sawdust, clay compounds and textiles. The absorbtion factor of carefully processed pumice is incredible—rating in excess of 77 percent.
• Pumice in the fine arts as a paint additive: for lending a matt (or less shiny) appearance to dried paint, for adding texture and body without shifting the color, and for adding to chalk and gesso grounds to give "tooth".
