Introduction to Silica Sand Mining

SILICA is the most abundant mineral found in the crust of the earth. It forms an important constituent of practically all rock-forming minerals. It is found in a variety of forms, as quartz crystals, massive forming hills, quartz sand (silica sand), sandstone, quartzite, tripoli, diatomite, flint, opal, chalcedonic forms like agate, onyx etc., and in with numerous other forms depending upon colour such as purple quartz (amethyst), smoky quartz, yellow quartz or false topaz (citrine), rose quartz and milky quartz. Only pure quartz crystal or rock crystal, untwinned, clear, free from any inclusion, has an important property:

Silica is a specialist semiconductor distribution business offering an extensive technology and product portfolio from a highly focused linecard. Serving most Western and Eastern European countries, Silica markets through pan-European agreements from the leading suppliers of semiconductors.

Silica offers one of the most comprehensive product portfolios available from any distributor. With local teams of application engineers and technology specialists, it is dedicated to supporting its OEM customers technically and to providing the design-in expertise needed for customers to compete successfully.

As a division of Avnet Electronics Marketing (EM) in Europe, Silica is supported by Avnet Logistics for warehousing, programming and other value added services, including laser marking, tape & reel and inspection, fast turn-round prototyping, dry packaging and baking. The Avnet Logistics Programming Service Centre, one of the largest of its kind in Europe, has a capacity of more than 30 million units a year.

A full suite of value added supply chain management services, such as buffer stock management, replenishment services (Kanban), EDI and supply chain consulting, is available to Silica's European customers in order to reduce inventory, to lower costs and reduce time to market cycles.

 

Silica Sand Applications

Rounded pebbles of chalcedony are used in ball mills for finer crushing of minerals like felspar, calcite, and barytes. Chalcedony being the cryptocrystalline variety of silica is very hard and has good abrasive effect on the material to be pulverized. Some of the ball mills use steel shots for this purpose. Chalcedony pebbles are used to advantage where product absolutely free from iron contamination is required. The agate pieces after cutting to requisite sizes and shapes are utilized in the manufacture of fulcra of scientific balances and making edges, planes and bearing of precision instruments. Cambay and Varanasi are important agate cutting centres. Big pebbles are used for making mortar and pestle. Glass-sand in large quantities is used as moulding sand in the foundry industry, as body constituent in the ceramic industry in the preparation of glazes and sometimes added to the raw material for cement manufacture to balance SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 percentages. Silica flour made by grinding silica sand is used in paints. Paint manufacturers generally prefer diatomite powder which has a wide covering powder.