Montan wax, also known as lignite wax or OP wax, is a hard wax obtained by solvent extraction of certain types of lignite or brown coal. Commercially viable deposits exist in only a few locations, including Amsdorf, Germany, and in the Ione Basin near Ione, California.
Its color ranges from dark brown to light yellow when crude, or white when refined. Its composition is non-glyceride long-chain (C24–C30) carboxylic acid esters (62–68 weight %), free long-chain organic acids (22–26%), long-chain alcohols, ketones, and hydrocarbons (7–15%), and resins; it is in effect a fossilized plant wax. Its melting range is 82–95 °C.
It is used for making car and shoe polishes, paints, and phonograph records, and as lubricant for molding paper and plastics. About a third of total world production is used in car-polishing polishes. Formerly, its main use was making carbon paper. Unrefined montan wax contains asphalt and resins, which can be removed by refining. Montan wax in polishes improves scuff resistance, increases water repellence, and imparts high gloss.
Montan (Italian: Montagna) is a comune (municipality) in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of the city of Bolzano.
As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 1,634 and an area of 18.9 square kilometres (7.3 sq mi).
Montan borders the following municipalities: Aldein, Auer, Neumarkt, Salorno, Truden and Capriana.
The municipality of Montan contains the frazioni (subdivisions, mainly villages and hamlets) Glen (Gleno), Gschnon (Casignano), Kaltenbrunn (Fontanefredde) and Pinzon (Pinzano).
The emblem represents an argent lion, with fixed eyes and claws of or, on azure. It is the arms of the Lords of Enn who built the Castle in the twelfth century. The emblem was granted in 1967.
According to the 2011 census, 92.54% of the population speak German, 6.94% Italian and 0.52% Ladin as first language.
Media related to Montan at Wikimedia Commons
Montan (fl. c. 1250) was a Provençal troubadour whose real name, as well as any biographical detail, is unknown: his sobriquet means "the mounter", which has pornographic overtones, evidenced in his piece Eu venh vas vos, seinher, fauda levada, which is considered the most obscene ever produced by a troubadour. Other than this, three pieces are extant, a single stanza in a tenso with Sordello and two coblas esparsas.
Montan is also mentioned in a poem by Ramon de Rosselló, a sign that his peculiar nickname was customarily used in his time.