Borax (also referred to as sodium borate, tincal (/ˈtɪŋkəl/) and tincar (/ˈtɪŋkər/)) is a salt (ionic compound) normally encountered as a hydrated borate of sodium, with the chemical formula Na2H20B4O17. Borax mineral is a crystalline borate mineral that occurs in only a few places worldwide in quantities that enable it to be mined economically.
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👉 Borax in the context of Flux (metallurgy)
In metallurgy, a flux is a chemical reducing agent, flowing agent, or purifying agent. Fluxes may have more than one function at a time. They are used in both extractive metallurgy and metal joining. They are named for the ability to make molten metals easier to flow during smelting.
Some of the earliest known fluxes were sodium carbonate, potash, charcoal, coke, borax, lime, lead sulfide and certain minerals containing phosphorus. Iron ore was also used as a flux in the smelting of copper. These agents served various functions, the simplest being a reducing agent, which prevented oxides from forming on the surface of the molten metal, while others absorbed impurities into slag, which could be scraped off molten metal.
In this Dossier
Borax in the context of Balıkesir Province
Balıkesir Province (Turkish: Balıkesir ili) is a province and metropolitan municipality in northwestern Turkey with coastlines on both the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean. Its area is 14,583 km, and its population is 1,276,096 (2024). Its adjacent provinces are Çanakkale to the west, İzmir to the southwest, Manisa to the south, Kütahya to the southeast, and Bursa to the east. The provincial capital is Balıkesir. Most of the province lies in the Marmara Region except the southern parts of Bigadiç Edremit, Kepsut, İvrindi, Savaştepe and Sındırgı districts and ones of Ayvalık, Burhaniye, Dursunbey, Gömeç and Havran, that bound the Aegean Region. Kaz Dağı (pronounced [kaz daːɯ]), known also as Mount Ida, is located in this province. Balıkesir province is famous for its olives, thermal spas, and clean beaches, making it an important tourist destination. The province also hosts immense deposits of kaolinite and borax, with some open-pit mines. The Kaz mountains are also threatened with the expansion of gold mining using cyanide which puts the villagers' lives, the agricultural economy, and tourism at risk.
Borax in the context of Borate mineral
The Borate Minerals are minerals which contain a borate anion group. The borate (BO3) units may be polymerised similar to the SiO4 unit of the silicate mineral class. This results in B2O5, B3O6, B2O4 anions as well as more complex structures which include hydroxide or halogen anions. The [B(O,OH)4] anion exists as well.
Many borate minerals, such as borax, colemanite, and ulexite, are salts: soft, readily soluble, and found in evaporite contexts. However, some, such as boracite, are hard and resistant to weathering, more similar to the silicates.
Borax in the context of Boron
Boron is a chemical element; it has symbol B and atomic number 5. In its crystalline form it is a brittle, dark, lustrous metalloid; in its amorphous form it is a brown powder. As the lightest element of the boron group it has three valence electrons for forming covalent bonds, resulting in many compounds such as boric acid, the mineral sodium borate, and the ultra-hard crystals of boron carbide and boron nitride.
Boron is synthesized entirely by cosmic ray spallation and supernovas and not by stellar nucleosynthesis, so it is a low-abundance element in the Solar System and in the Earth's crust. It constitutes about 0.001 percent by weight of Earth's crust. It is concentrated on Earth by the water-solubility of its more common naturally occurring compounds, the borate minerals. These are mined industrially as evaporites, such as borax and kernite. The largest known deposits are in Turkey, the largest producer of boron minerals.
Borax in the context of Borate
A borate is any of a range of boron oxyanions, anions containing boron and oxygen, such as orthoborate BO3−3, metaborate BO−2, or tetraborate B4O2−7; or any salt of such anions, such as sodium metaborate, Na[BO2] and borax (Na)2[B4O7]. The name also refers to esters of such anions, such as trimethyl borate B(OCH3)3.
Borax in the context of Borax (mineral)
Borax (Na2B4O5(OH)4 · 8 H2O) is a borate mineral found in evaporite deposits of alkaline lacustrine environments and as a surface efflorescence in arid regions. It is the chief mineral mined from the deposits at Boron, California and nearby locations, and is the chief source of commercial borax.
Borax first reached Western civilization as tincal mined from deposits in Tibet. The term borax comes from the Arabic bauraq, meaning white.