Holguín 2 Project

This Semilla Project aims to create the bases for the detailed study of the pozzolanic properties of volcanic and volcanosedimentary materials from the Holguín Region, Cuba, and to value their character as high quality raw materials for the industrial manufacture of cements, mortars and concrete intended for the manufacture of low-cost homes for the inhabitants of that town who have been affected by hurricanes in the last three years. At the same time, it aims to establish standardized parameters for the conditioning and use of these materials throughout the country, thereby ensuring not only an adequate number of homes for those in need, but also the creation of jobs and social benefits in the scope itself, the improvement of personnel, the growth of interest on the part of companies with the corresponding short and medium term investments, as well as the low environmental impact related to the exploitation and treatment of these resources.

The existence of large deposits of volcanic materials (ash, kaolin, glass, pumice, vitreous tuffs, zeolites, bentonites, among others) in the region, due to the arc-insular nature of Cuba, allows defining strategies for the reasoned selection of the favorable sectors from the geological and geographical point of view, location of the plants, distance to the port, access roads and the demand for pozzolanic cements.

The José Mercerón cement factory, located in the Province of Santiago de Cuba, more than one hundred kilometers south of Holguín, is the only factory that supplies cement to the five provinces in the eastern part of Cuba, which includes the region from Holguin. It is worth saying that production is quite limited due to a notable deficit of suitable raw materials, which is a direct reflection of the consequences of the strong blockade that the country has suffered for five decades. Added to this is the harmfulness of the hurricanes that have so persistently devastated Cuba in the last three years, thus marking another negative turning point in the supply-demand binomial.

Despite its deteriorated economy, Cuba is making great efforts to dedicate part of its scarce financial resources to the creation of plans for social purposes, among which, due to its spectacular demand, the construction of low-cost housing for affected citizens stands out. because of the hurricanes.

 This project, through the Higher Mining-Metalurgical Institute of Moa (Cuba), is directly linked to a national Cuban project coordinated and directed by that institution, whose data is offered below:

“Geological characterization and evaluation of vitreous and zeolitized tuffs from the Province of Holguín for their use as pozzolanic materials”, which belongs to the National Program “Comprehensive Characterization of the Geology of Cuba” (see annex 1). This project has a total budget of 142,708 CUP, of which 57,104 CUP are approved for the year 2015. The duration is two years (2015-2017), and it includes professors and researchers from various scientific and teaching entities that are detailed below: 

• The Higher Mining Metallurgical Institute of Moa (ISMM). Holguín, Cuba (Main entity).
• The Cuban Institute of Geology and Paleontology (IGP). Havana, Cuba.
• The Technical Center for the Development of Construction Materials (CTDMC). Havana, Cuba.
• The general and specific objectives of this project appear in Annex 1 of this application.

The proposed project has its roots in a Network of the CYTED program, dedicated for more than a decade to strengthening relationships between researchers in the field of Industrial Rocks and Minerals. This Network, called “Ibero-American Network companies and administration organizations from all the countries of Latin America, Portugal and Spain.

In particular, on the topic of pozzolanic materials for the manufacture of cements, the great interest they aroused could be seen, and several international meetings were organized, partly educational and partly with the aim of exchanging experiences between researchers in these subjects. The initiative for these meetings came from the then Coordinator of the CYTED XIII-C Network, Professor Benjamín Calvo Pérez.

The first meeting on the application of Industrial Rocks and Minerals organized by the CYTED Network of Mineral Resources) on November 14, 15 and 16, 2000. On behalf of the XIII-C Network, Mr. Pedro Oyhantabal (Uruguay), Ms. Mónica Martiz (Venezuela) and Ms. Mercedes Rosell (Cuba) attended, as well of the organizer, Mr. Alfredo Coello, from Moa (Cuba). The second meeting, called “Thematic meeting and international course on Industrial Rocks and Minerals and their applications”, took place in Guayaquil (Ecuador) from March 4 to 8, 2002, under the coordination of professors Paúl Carrión, from the Higher School Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL) and Alfredo Coello, from the Instituto Superior Minero-Metalúrgico de Moa (Cuba), both members of the XIII-C Network. Representatives of the Network from Cuba, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay and Ecuador attended and gave conferences. In January 2004, the third meeting on the topic was held, called “Monographic Meeting on the Applications of Industrial Rocks and Minerals from Brazil and Ecuador”, at the Mineral Technology Center of Rio de Janeiro (CETEM), with attendance of the Coordinator of the XIII-C Network, Professor Benjamín Calvo Pérez, and 14 representatives of Brazilian, Ecuadorian and Spanish institutions and companies.

In addition to these meetings, various groups in the Network have worked continuously on the topic of pozzolans, mainly on natural zeolites. The following embodiments may be mentioned, among others:

The Technical Center for the Development of Construction Materials of Havana (CTDMC) has developed studies on the application of natural pozzolans as a basic component of concrete and mortar mixtures subjected to high performance (high performance concrete), which achieve resistance higher than 70.0 MPa, with possibilities of mass lightening, thermal insulation, greater resistance to corrosion in reinforced concrete and other properties that support the rationality and suitability of its use. The Research and Development (R&D) programs for the use of pozzolanic materials in civil construction in Cuba began with the industrial production of portland-pozzolanic cement starting in 1974, for which the volcanic tuffs of the deposit were used. Palmarito de Cauto, in Santiago de Cuba; Later, starting in the 1980s, other natural materials (clinoptilolite-heulandite) were used as a mineral additive and natural light aggregates in the production of concrete and mortar.

The Higher Mining Metallurgical Institute of Moa (Cuba) has extensive experience in the development and research of deposits of industrial rocks and minerals such as pozzolans, especially with natural zeolites and everything related to the technologies for their treatment, as well as applications in the removal of heavy metals from industrial waste and recovery of ammonium from solid waste. In recent years, he has developed joint research with the Institute of Materials and Reagents of the University of Havana aimed at obtaining modified zeolites for the recovery of various metals and anions from solutions and waste and their subsequent use in agroindustry.

In recent years, work at the Moa ISMM has focused on the characterization and evaluation of vitreous and zeolitized tuffs from the province of Holguín for their use as pozzolanic materials, achieving important results that support the prospects of these deposits, but that merit a more complete and comprehensive characterization of its substantial composition and technical tests that can support these works and for which international collaboration is essential.

The Higher Technical School of Mining and Energy Engineers has organized and directed the Ibero-American Construction Materials Conference for more than a decade, these being one more initiative of the many drawn from the activities of the CYTED XIII-C Network. The activities were carried out every year in different member countries of the network, in the following order:

• I Ibero-American Conference on “Characterization and Standardization of Construction Materials” (Cement, aggregates, mortars and concrete). Location: Madrid, Spain. Date: 2001.
• II Ibero-American Conference on “Characterization and Standardization of Construction Materials” (Cement, aggregates, mortars and concrete). Place: Havana, Cuba. Date: 2002.
• III Ibero-American Conference on “Characterization and Standardization of Construction Materials” (Cement, aggregates, mortars and concrete). Place: San Juan, Argentina. Date: 2003.
• IV Ibero-American Conference on “Characterization and Standardization of Construction Materials” (Cement, aggregates, mortars and concrete). Location: Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Date: 2004.
• V Ibero-American Conference on “Characterization and Standardization of Construction Materials” (Cement, aggregates, mortars and concrete). Location: Panama City, Panama. Date: 2007.
• VI Ibero-American Conference on “Characterization and Standardization of Construction Materials” (Cement, aggregates, mortars and concrete). Place: Mar del Plata, Argentina. Date: 2008.
• VII Ibero-American Conference on “Characterization and Standardization of Construction Materials” (Cement, aggregates, mortars and concrete). Location: Valencia, Spain. Date: 2009.
• VIII Ibero-American Conference on “Characterization and Standardization of Construction Materials” (Cement, aggregates, mortars and concrete). Place: Lima, Peru. Date: 2010.
• IX Ibero-American Conference on “Characterization and Standardization of Construction Materials” (Cement, aggregates, mortars and concrete). Place: Quito, Ecuador. Date: 2011.
• 10th Ibero-American Conference on “Characterization and Standardization of Construction Materials” (Cement, aggregates, mortars and concrete). Place: Cáceres, Spain. Date: 2012.

•    Satisfaction of social demand

•    New regional development alternatives

•    New sources of employment, direct and indirect

•    Reliable, systematic and extensive information on the quality of natural pozzolans in the Holguín Region

•    Standardization of raw materials and manufactured products

•    Improvement of environmental conditions on farms

•    Rational and intensive use in the manufacture of cement and other essential products

•    Information about potential projects and their funding sources

•    New technologies and products. Patent development and technology transfer