WHAT IS SILICA SAND?
Although natural sands are aggregations of many kinds of small rock and mineral fragments, silica sand consists almost entirely of fine grains of a single mineral, quartz. The principal sources of Illinois silica sand are in LaSalle (Ottawa, Utica, Wedron, and Troy Grove areas) and Ogle (Oregon area) Counties.
HOW IS SILICA SAND USED?
Silica sand, produced in northern Illinois, is famous for its high purity, and is widely used in making glass. More than two-thirds of the raw material in common glass is silica sand.
Quantities of silica sand are used as molding sand, because it can withstand the high temperatures produced in casting steel and other metals. It also is used for grinding and smoothing plate glass, for sand blasting, and for fracturing sand used to increase the production of oil wells. Some silica sand is ground to a fine powder and utilized as an ingredient in scouring compounds, paint fillers, pottery, glazes, and enamels.
A specially sized sand is produced from the St. Peter Sandstone Formation (Ordovician in age) that is used in testing the strength of cements and as a laboratory standard in various kinds of tests.
HOW VALUABLE IS SILICA SAND TO THE ECONOMY OF THE STATE?
Illinois is a major producer of silica sand, having produced 2,900,000 tons in 1963. The silica sand and ground silica produced in the same year was valued at $11,400,000.