Sand(Industrial)
Industrial sand is a high-purity quartz (SiO2) sand deposited by natural processes or sands that can be processed and upgraded to meet specialty use specifications.
In Arkansas, silica sand in economic quantities is present in the Ozark Plateau region in the St. Peter Sandstone (Early Ordovician) and some members of the Everton Formation (Ordovician). The most significant recovery of silica sand is from Unimin's underground mines developed in the St. Peter Sandstone at Guion, Izard County, where it is a pure orthoquartzite. A significant by-product is sand used as a filter material. The quartz sand grains of the St. Peter Sandstone in Arkansas are too angular to be usable for "frac" sand, due to secondary oriented silica growths. Annual production is withheld by the USGS to prevent disclosure of company proprietary data.
Sand dredged from the Arkansas River in west Arkansas is recovered and processed to produce a raw glass additive by Arkhola Sand and Gravel Company. Both industrial sand and construction sand are recovered. The feldspar-bearing sand is upgraded by classifying, drying, magnetic separation, and leaching processes, followed by a second drying. This yields a product containing ~6 percent feldspar. Arkhola's operational capacity is estimated at 850,000 tons per year of construction and industrial sand products. Other Arkhola industrial sand products include foundry casting sand, water filter sand, and "frac" sand for well development in the Fayetteville Shale play in central Arkansas. Total annual production is withheld by the USGS to prevent disclosure of company proprietary data.
The last production figures for industrial sand available for Arkansas are for 1994 and amounted to a total output of 684,000 metric tons of industrial sand, valued at $8.23 million.