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The fibrous forms of riebeckite are known as crocidolite and are one of the six recognised types of asbestos. Often referred to as blue asbestos, it is considered the most hazardous. The association between blue asbestos and mesothelioma was established by J. C. Wagner, C. A. Sleggs, and P. Marchand by 1960. [7]
Asbestos (/ æ s ˈ b ɛ s t ə s, æ z-,-t ɒ s / ass-BES-təs, az-, -toss) [1] is a group of naturally occurring, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals.There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre (particulate with length substantially greater than width) [2] being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into ...
The Koegas mine was a crocidolite (blue asbestos) mine in Northern Cape, South Africa. It lies near to the town of Prieska and drew much of its workforce from there and Griquatown ; though significant proportions also came from Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Wittenoom Gorge Airport served as part of the routes that MMA and Airlines (WA) operated on for bringing workers and supplies in and out of the asbestos mine. It later closed as being one of the health concerns as runways were made of gravel and asbestos tailings. [8] [9] The former townsite no longer receives government services.
Blue asbestos is possibly 100 times more hazardous than white asbestos, as the fibres are much smaller (around 2.5 to 10 micrometres). [2] The inhalation of asbestos results in illness and in most cases death, due to asbestosis, mesothelioma (of which asbestos is the only known cause) and other lung diseases. [1]
The most common asbestiform mineral is chrysotile, commonly called "white asbestos", a magnesium phyllosilicate part of the serpentine group. Other asbestiform minerals include riebeckite, an amphibole whose fibrous form is known as crocidolite or "blue asbestos", and brown asbestos, a cummingtonite-grunerite solid solution series.
The mountains were named after the asbestos which was mined in the 20th century and is found as a variety of amphibole called crocidolite. Veins occur in slaty rocks, and are associated with jasper and quartzite rich in magnetite and brown iron-ore. Geologically it belongs to the Griquatown series. [citation needed]
Four of the amphibole minerals are commonly called asbestos. These are: anthophyllite, riebeckite, the cummingtonite/grunerite series, and the actinolite/tremolite series. The cummingtonite/grunerite series is often termed amosite or "brown asbestos", and riebeckite is known as crocidolite or "blue asbestos".