While borate applications number in the thousands, chief among them are:

Agriculture:  Boron is an essential micronutrient for plants, vital to their growth and development.  Without sufficient boron, plant fertilisation, seeding and fruiting are not possible. On every continent of the world,  crop yields and food quality are diminished due to insufficient  boron  concentrations  in  the  soil.  These deficiencies can be corrected with borate fertilisers. In areas of acute deficiency, borates can increase crop yields by 30 to 40 percent.

Ceramics: Borates have been an essential ingredient in ceramic and enamel glazes for centuries, integral to affixing glazes or enamels, and enhancing their durability and lustre.  Borates are now gaining acceptance as an essential ingredient in ceramic tile bodies, allowing manufacturers to use a wider range of clays, heightening productivity and decreasing energy usage.

Calcium carbonate rocks are spread throughout the world, which is why they have been among the most widely used raw materials for more than 5000 years. Long ago, the
Egyptians built their pyramids with limestone, and today we still use hundred of millions of tonnes of calcium carbonate in  the  building  industry  alone.  However,  although  the
deposits are plentiful, only a few are of sufficiently high quality to be worked and even a fewer number of deposits will provide raw materials for industrial and agricultural uses
other than the construction and roads building industry.

Only if the purity, degree of whiteness, thickness and homogeneity  are  acceptable  is  commercial  extraction worthwhile. After quarrying, further treatment is required to
process natural calcium carbonates of the highest quality, known generically as Ground Calcium Carbonate (GCC).