Markets for quartz are flux which for BB is fine, but distance to market is problem and there is low pay for smelter flux. The buyers put a micrometer on it and will pay what it costs you to mine it and ship it. Not much profit in that. Kidd Creek (Falco) mines smelter flux in GB and ships to Timmins. Cost is 50 dollars per ton. They say they want SF for Kidd but will pay locals 25 bucks, which is what it costs to mine, crush, sort, ship.. no profit. Know an outfit that ships but I know they don't make much. Roseval went under trying that.
nrcan-rncan.gc.ca
Unimin Canada Ltd. is the largest producer of silica in
Ontario with a capacity of about 500 000 t/y. Lump
quartzite from Badgeley Island (150 000-t/y capacity) in
northern Georgian Bay is shipped by boat to Canadian
destinations for the manufacture of ferrosilicon. The finer
material, produced by grinding, is shipped to Unimin’s
plant at Midland (400 000-t/y capacity), south of Georgian
Bay, where it is further processed to a glass-grade silica
sand and silica flour for ceramic and other uses.
Crystal Quartz Canada, located west of Sudbury near
Dryden, is the only lascas-grade silica producer in North
America. It supplies lascas to North American cultured
quartz producers.
Significant amounts of silica are extracted by others across
Ontario for use as flux for base-metal smelting operations
in Timmins and Sudbury, for silicon metal production, for
specialty brick production, and for decorative uses. Other
Ontario producers are: Arriscraft International Inc. with
its Elgin Quarry in Bastard Township; Rapier Resources
Inc. with its Deagle Township Quarry, west of Sudbury;
Great White Minerals Ltd. with its Fripp Quarry, near
Timmins; Northern Mining and Exploration Inc. with its
Shaw Township Quarry, in Timmins; and Roseval Silica
with its Penhorwood Township Quarry, also near Timmins.
98% is low purity for electronic direct ship. They want 99+ if you can get it. Low tonnage. Suit a very pure vein you could small scale crush and ship. 99% is hard to get even with any sort of sorting or selecting.. 20 lbs of deleterious metal per ton may not even be visible. Many good looking qtz veins have invisible (white) feldspar, or aluminum, a no-no in a smelter. That killed on flux mine in Chester Twp a while back. Other so called qtz veins are half carbonate. good for gold, not that desirable when calculating a flux, although I admit carbonates make good flux if you need them.
With industrials you have to make your market. You just don't go out and set up a roadside stand.. The market looks large but on closer inspection it is very tightly controlled by users who often are the financers/owners. If you are looking just to bleed off a few bucks then fine, but to make a very good profit making operation you just about have to control the market at least in a regional area.
Lump Silica3
Flux: Quartz, quartzite, and occasionally sandstone and
sand are used as fluxes in smelting base-metal ores with
low silica contents. The silica content of the flux should
be as high as possible, but a small percentage of impurities
such as iron oxide and alumina can be tolerated. Size is
generally minus 2.5 to 0.5 cm.
Silicon Alloys: Quartz, quartzite and well-cemented sandstone
are used in the manufacture of silicon, ferrosilicon
and other alloys of silicon. The silica content of ferrosilicon
should be 98% and the total iron oxide and alumina
less than 1.5%. Lime and magnesia should not exceed
0.20% each; phosphorous and arsenic should also be
very low. Silicon metal manufacture requires a highpurity
quartz grading 99.5% SiO2 or better with less than
0.04% iron oxide and alumina. Size specifications vary
between 5 and 10 cm.
Silica Brick: Quartz and quartzite crushed to 2.5 mm are
used in the manufacture of silica brick for high-temperature
refractory furnace linings. The silica content should be a
minimum of 95%, and iron oxide and alumina should each
be less than 0.1%. Other impurities such as lime and
magnesia should be low.
Other Uses: Lump quartz and quartzite are used as
linings in ball and tube mills, and as lining and packing
for acid towers. Naturally occurring flint pebbles may
be used as a grinding medium for nonmetallic ores.
Silica Sand3
Glass and Glass Fibre: Naturally occurring quartz sands,
and sands produced by crushing quartz, quartzite or sandstone
are used in the manufacture of glass, glass fibre and
fused silica ware. The silica content should be greater
than 99% and the iron oxide content should be uniform and less than 0.025%. Other impurities such as alumina, lime
and magnesia should be less than 0.15% each. Chromium,
cobalt and titanium are undesirable and should be less than
2 or 3 ppm. Uniformity of grain size is important and
sand generally should be between 600 and 100 microns in
size with a minimum of coarse and fine material.
Silicon Carbide: Sand for silicon carbide manufacture
should have a silica content of 99% and iron oxide and
alumina should each be less than 0.1%; lime, magnesia
and phosphorus are particularly objectionable. Although
coarse-grained sand is preferred, finer sands are used
where coarser grades are not available. All sand should
be plus 150 microns, with the bulk of the sand being
minus 2.0 plus 0.5 mm in size.
Hydraulic Fracturing: Silica sand is used as a “propping
agent” in the hydraulic fracturing of oil-bearing formations
to improve the recovery of oil. The sand should
be clean, dry and have a high compressive strength. The
silica content should be high and carbonates and other
acid-consuming minerals should be low. The sand grains
should be between 850 and 500 microns in size and be
well rounded to facilitate placement and provide maximum
permeability.
Foundry Moulding: Naturally occurring sand and sand
produced by the reduction of sandstone to grain size are
used extensively in the foundry industry for moulding
purposes. The purity and size of sand used depend on
the type of casting and on the particular foundry practice.
Iron and steel foundry sands vary in grain size between
850 and 75 microns in closely sized fractions. American
Foundryman’s Society (AFS) numbers vary between
55 and 65, with the bulk of the sand being preferably on
three adjacent sieves; a rounded grain shape is preferred.
The silica content should be high, 99% SiO2,with low
aluminum, iron, sodium and potassium oxides.
Silicate Chemicals: Sand for the manufacture of sodium
silicate and other chemicals should be of high purity.
Sodium silicate requires a silica content of 99%, the
alumina less than 1%, the combined lime and magnesia
less than 0.5%, and iron oxide less than 0.1%. All sand
should be between 840 and 150 microns in size.
Other Uses: Coarsely ground, closely sized quartz,
quartzite, sandstone and sand are used as abrasive grit
for sandblasting purposes and for the manufacture of
abrasives papers. Various grades of closely sized,
round-grained sand are used in water filtration plants
as a filtering medium. Silica sand is used as an additive
in portland cement manufacture when the source cement
is low in silica.
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