AL-Hussein Bin Talal University Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering
Silica sand In Jordan
Presented By:
Mo`men Mohsen
• What is silica sand?• Geological Setting • Resources of minerals in Jordan • Silica Sand Reserves in Jordan• Production, Company.• Application • Mining & Processing.• Hazard.
Silica – It’s Not Just Dust
The following topics are covered:
What is Silica Sand ?•Silica is the name given to a group of minerals composed of silicon and oxygen, the two most abundant elements in the earth's crust.
•Sand consists of small grains or particles of mineral and rock fragments, generally is the mineral of silica.
•The term silica sand is applied to quartz sand that conforms to the specifications of which the main composition is SiO2 >99%, with very little contaminant contents and heavy minerals of <0.1%.
Silica Sand generally contains the following
impurities :-
Fe2O3
Al2O3
TiO2
CaONa 2O
K2O
Geological Setting• White silica sand deposits are found exposed
on the surface, that belong to the1) Disi Sandstone Formation of Early Ordovician
age .2) 2) Kurnub sandstone Formation of Lower
Cretaceous age which exposed in south of Jordan.
Res
ourc
es o
f min
eral
s in
Jo
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Detailed Location in Jordan
• Locations• Ras En Naqb Area• Qa’a Ed Disi Area• Petra / Ein El Biada Area • Al Jayoshia Area• Wadi Es Siq-Wadi Rakiya Area
Silica Sand Reserves in Jordan
Area Geological reserves (Mt)
Ras En Naqb >10000
Qa`a Disi Billions of tones
Wadi Es Siq-Wadi Rakiya 120
Petra/ Ein El Biada area Not determined
Al Jayoshia area Not determined
Production
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 20050
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
60000
70000
80000
Production from 2000-2004
Production
Company The Important Company in Jordan Mahmoud habahbeh & sons QuarryGreen Technology Group of JordanAhmed Al Dihk QuarriesInternational Silica IndustriesJordanian Co. for raw materials processing & concentrating
Arab Co. for Mineral RocksSuleiman Njadat QuarryUnited Co. For MiningMohamed Al Resaei QuarryAl Rehab for Industrial Services & Trade
Al Fares for Silica Sand Mining
Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Consumption (t)
41727 43968 30274 47406 60227
Local consumption (Sales) of silica sand (ton).
The local consumption of silica sand around 200,000 mt/year, consumed in White cement, Ceramics.
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
1.5 1.5 1.5 1.1 1.5 1.5 2.5
Local average price of silica sand J.D/M3.
Current markets: Lebanon, Syria, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Italy
• Silica Sand having color due to ferruginous impurities present in it. Assay value of required Silica Sand varies with its application. Maximum production of Silica Sand is for glass industries.
APPLICATIONS
OFSILICA SAND
Filler and extender
Production of silicon and silicon carbide
Pigments
Building products
Hydraulic fracturing and propping in the oil industry
Ultra high silica products in the electronic and fibre optic industries, fused
Silica, silicone products
Water filtration
Glass industry
Refractory's
Silica Sand as glass • Silica sand is the primary component of all types of
standard and specialty glass. It provides the essential SiO2 component of glass formulation and its chemical purity is the primary determinant of color, clarity and strength.
• Used to produce :1) flat glass for building and automotive use2) container glass for foods and beverages• glass applications include test tubes and other
scientific tools, incandescent and fluorescent lamps, television and computer CRT monitors.
Mining and quarrying of Silica Sand
•As known the Sand is covered & extended on earth surface, we can used surface mining method in quarry and mine with simple equipment: • Bulldozers•Trucks • Excavator Screens & Conveyors
Processing • By Beneficiation Processing Method.
• ‘Beneficiation’ is the processing of raw minerals to yield marketable products by means of physical and mechanical methods without destroying their physical and chemical identity.
Simple process route adopted for Beneficiation
Desliming
Attrition Scrubbing
Sieving
Magnetic Separation
Flow Sheet for the Processing of Silica Sand
Quartz Concentrate(after overall treatment)
Mineral PercentSiO2 99.07
Al2O3 0.56
Fe2O3 0.019
CaO 0.03
• A lung disease called “silicosis” is caused by breathing of dust containing silica.
• The dust causes “fibrosis” or scar tissue formation in the lungs.
• This reduces the lung’s ability to extract oxygen from the air.
• There is no cure.
Silica Health Hazards