Mineral sands information
Zircon
Zircon sand (ZrSiO4)is a naturally occurring mineral, used in many strategic industries. The largest global deposits are found in Australia,South Africa but smaller volumes are found in India, South Asia, China, West and East Africa.
Ziron Sand is mainly consumed as an opacifier and has been known to be used in the decorative ceramics industry. It is also the principle precursor not only to metallic zirconium, (although this application is small ) but also to all compounds of zirconia including zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) one of the most refractory materials known.
Other applications include in refractories and foundry casting and a growing array of speciality applications as zirconia and ziconium chemicals including in nuclear fuel rods, catalytic fuel converters and in water and air purification.
Ilmenite
Ilmenite also known a Manaccanite, is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula FeTiO. It is a weakly magnetic black or steel grey solid. From a commercial perspective, ilumenite is the main source of titanium dioxide,which is used in paints, fabrics, plastics, paper, food and cosmetics.
garnet
Garnet sand is a good abrasiveand is used in non-skid surfaces . It is common replacement for silica sand in sand blasting. Alluvial garnet grains, which are rounder, are more suitable for such blasting treatments. Mixed with very high pressure water, garnet is used to cut steel and other materials in water jets.
Garnet paper is favoured by cabinetmakers for finishing bare wood and Garnet sand is also used for water filtration media. As an abrasive, garnet can be broadly divided in two categories, blasting grade and water jet grade. The garnet, as it is mined and collected, is crushed to finer grains; all pieces which are larger than 60 mesh (250 micrometres) are normally used for sand blasting. The pieces between 60 mesh (250 micrometres) and 200 mesh (74 micrometres) are normally used for water jet cutting. The remaining garnet pieces that are finer than 200 mesh (74 micrometres) are used for glass polishing and lapping. Regardless of the application, the larger grain sizes are used for faster work and the smaller ones are used for finer finishes
Chemical Properties
SiO2= 41.34%, FeO= 9.72%, Fe2O3= 12.55%, Al2O3= 20.36%, CaO= 2.97%, MgO= 12.35% and MnO= 0.85%