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Basalt flows are exposed over about 75% of the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) site. The exposed surfaces of joints in the basalt are frequently covered with calcite and the vesicles in the basalt are frequently filled with calcite. In the event of an accidental release of fission and activation products to the INEL environment, some of these radioisotopes, e.g., compounds of cesium, strontium, and cobalt, would come into contact with the basalt and could ion exchange with the calcite, especially that on the surface of the basalt. Experiments were designed to test the hypothesis that surficial calcite could be abraded from the basalt and concentrated into the fine size fractions of the product by autogenous grinding. Such material and its ion exchange analogs could then be more effectively removed and segregated as part of a decontamination effort. The results of this study indicate that the surficial calcite is abraded during the autogenous grinding and is concentrated into the minus 0.125-mm size fraction of the product. 7 references, 12 figures. (ERA citation 10:023180)