The vessel Mount Adams is currently at the Suva Port offloading 22,000 tons of cement clinkers for the Pacific Cement Limited.

Carpenters Shipping boarding officer Tomu Raturaga said the cement clinkers were from the Peoples Republic of China (PRC).

As of yesterday he said 4,500 tons of clinkers were still to be discharged.

“The vessel will leave soon after offloading the clinkers,” he said.

Below are some questions that Wikipedia has clarified about clinkers.

In the manufacture of Portland cement, clinker occurs as lumps or nodules, usually 3 millimeters (0.12 in) to 25 millimeters (0.98 in) in diameter, produced by sintering (fused together without melting to the point of liquefaction) limestone and alumino-silicate materials such as clay during the cement kiln stage.

How clinker is made?

Portland cement clinker is a dark grey nodular material made by heating ground limestone and clay at a temperature of about 1400 °C – 1500 °C.

The nodules are ground up to a fine powder to produce cement, with a small amount of gypsum added to control the setting properties.

How do they make Portland cement?

Cement is manufactured through a closely controlled chemical combination of calcium, silicon, aluminum, iron and other ingredients. Common materials used to manufacture cement include limestone, shells, and chalk or marl combined with shale, clay, slate, blast furnace slag, silica sand, and iron ore.

Why do we add gypsum to cement?

Gypsum is a mineral and is hydrated calcium sulfate in chemical form. Gypsum plays a very important role in controlling the rate of hardening of the cement.

During the cement manufacturing process, upon the cooling of clinker, a small amount of gypsum is introduced during the final grinding process.