Silica is also known as quartz as well as silicon dioxide. Silica plays an important part in the making of specialized aluminum alloys, steels, cast iron, abrasives such as sand paper, water filters, insecticides, reinforcement for rubber and plastics, it is truly amazing how many everyday products that we all use have the mineral silica as an ingredient. Many industries use silica as noted above, research has shown that the yearly use of the mineral silica by industries of all types is upwards in the millions of tons. The most important ingredient in the mixture in the making of mortar and concrete is the quartz or silica that is contained in the sand. Stones used for building applications are best when they contain large amounts of silica/quartz because of the stone’s resistance to fracture and hardness. (Quartz/Silica is a number 7 on the Mohs scale) Crushed rocks with heavy silica deposits also make an ideal base for buildings, roads and railway construction due to its superior strength and hardness levels. Large blast rocks with high silica content make ideal rip-rap for lake edges, sea walls and river channels for the control of erosion, due to silica’s hardness and fracture resistance. Crushed silica stone is also ideal for roofing gravel as it does not deteriorate, does not promote plant growth and it’s white colour reflects the sun’s rays thus protecting the tar compounds below the gravel from excess heat during the hot weather months. Finely crushed silica is an ideal constituent for sand paper, sand blasting as well as grinding and polishing wheels due to its hardness and resistance to fracture. Reasonably pure silica in copious amounts is commonly used for insulation type products such as thermal house insulation, cut stone firebricks, sand and solid molds for foundry use, as well as the well known use of electrical insulators. Silica is unique and very useful in the fact that the property it possesses for insulation type applications makes it invaluable as a relatively low cost product. Ideal insulating properties of silica are that it has very low heat expansion qualities, very high shape retaining merits, high melting temperatures and low chemical solubility. Silica in the quartz form is used in radio and television transmitting and receiving as well as radar.

Silica occurs in many naturally and laboratory occurring beautiful and semi-precious stone forms such as quartz, amethyst, citrine, milky quartz, smoky quartz, morion, rose quartz, chalcedony, agate, onyx, moss agate, mocha stone, carnelian, sard, chrysoprase, plasma, prase, bloodstone, jasper, chert, flint, high quartz, tridymite, cristobalite, opal, vitreous silica, lechatelierite, melanophlogite, keatite, coesite and stishovite. Some other naturally occurring minerals that often are found in silica deposits are rutile or rutilated quartz, tourmaline, asbestiform amphiboles, mica, iron oxides and chlorite or aventurine.

In fact silica provides a necessary and invaluable ingredient in all the following products:

Colloidal silica – used in the clarification and stabilization of fine juices and wines

Aerogel – used in making spacecraft

Thermal enhancement products – such as those used for the energy efficient underground heating/cooling pump house temperature control systems

Powdered beverages and foods – used as a flow agent as well as water absorbent

Electrical components – electrical charge storing agent, can block/insulate electrical currents or even control current flow