HISTORY:

Silica sand is a product of mechanical and chemical weathering of quartz-bearing igneous and metamorphic rocks such as granites and some gneisses.erosion and chemical weathering break down the less stable minerals such as feldspars and release the more stable ones such as quartz and zircon.the stable mineral fragments are transported and redeposited in water.wave and stream action may further modify the deposits by sorting and washing until a relatively pure deposit of silica sand remains.

DESCRIPTION OF MINERAL:

Silica sand is an industrial term used for sand or easily disaggregated sandstone with a very high percentage of quartz or silica grains.

PRODUCERS OF SILICA SAND:

The largest user of saskatchewans silica sand is Hudson Bay mining and smelting co.ltd.in flin flon.an estimated six million tonnes of metallurgical sand have been used by the company since 1933.the red deer river deposits are being developed using on-site screening and washing facilities for the production of white sand for the golf course bunker market.tests conducted on cretaceous and ordovician winnipeg formation sands demonstrate that the sands can be effectively upgraded by various methods.deposits near Hanson lake and in the Bow river area are being investigated by industry.

USES FOR SILICA SAND:

Industrial uses of silica sand depend on its purity and physical characteristics.some of the more important physical properties are : grain size and distribution,grain shape,sphericity,grain strenght and refractoriness.
saskatchewan deposits presently are used primarily as a metallurgical sand.the copper and zinc smelter at Flin Flon uses the sand as a fluxing agent which, in the molten state,reacts with various impurities in the ore and produces a slag.the slag is drawn off with the impurities, leaving a more refined metal behind.
silica sands have a large number of other industrial uses depending on their characteristics.

 

1. Agrochemical and Pesticides industries.
2. Production of glass.
3. Foundry sand.
4. Ceramics.
5. Sandblasting and other abrasives.
6. Building products.
7. Filler and extender.
9. Production of silicon and silicon carbide.
10. Pigments.
11. Hydraulic Fracturing and Propping in the oil industry.
12. Ultra high silica products in the electronics and fibre optics industries, fused silica silicone products.
13. Water Filteration.

 

 

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