A General Overview of Pumice Mining in Van and Bitlis Provinces

Abstract

In this literature study, the general characteristics of pumice stone are presented and the fact that more than 50% of total pumice reserve in our country exists in Bitlis and Van provinces is emphasized. Pumice with a hardness of 5-6 in accordance with the Mohs hardness scale and a specific gravity of 1-2 gr/cm3 has a variety of application areas ranging from construction and agriculture sectors to chemical industry. Mining with simple methods is an additional advantage of pumice. The maximum mining yield cannot be achieved and the pumice reserves are severely destroyed due to improper mining operations across both provinces with very high reserves. In case sufficient attention is paid to pumice mining in Van and Bitlis provinces.