Silica sand
High-silica quartz sand for glass, foundry moulds and, above all, oil and gas fracking: cheap, bulky and priced by freight.
Industrial minerals · No. 63
- Not on a critical list
About 81% of US industrial sand is pumped into oil and gas wells, and the Netherlands is the world's third-largest producer.
Chart: Illustration: Silica sand
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Industrial sand is quartz-rich sand or crushed sandstone, over 95% silica with little iron. It is dug from open pits, then washed, scrubbed, sized and dried.
Three things to know
- Spruce Pine high-purity quartz exceeds 99.999% purity, and new Chinese deposits have tested at 99.995-99.998%.
- Freight can rival the sand's value, so frac sand is now mined close to the wells in the Permian and other basins.
- About 33% of US glass containers are recycled, making cullet a significant source of reused silica.
The journey
- 1 Quartz depositSand or sandstone above 95% silica
- 2 MiningOpen pits or dredging
- 3 WashingScrubbed by attrition and sized
- 4 DryingDried, impurities removed
- 5 End usesFrac proppant, glass, foundry moulds, filters