Quartz was the mineral upon which the Stone Ages were based. With few exceptions, most early stone tools were fashioned of quartz. Outcrops of quartz that were suitable for tool manufacturing were targeted by some of the earliest known mining activities and the mined quartz was traded across vast distances, even before humans began to […]
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A widely distributed mineral on the Earth’s surface, quartz is a crucial constituent of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. It is formed in igneous rocks as magma cools and silicon dioxide crystallises. Quartz is highly resistant to chemical and mechanical weathering and can form at all temperatures. This is why mountaintops and beaches, sea, and […]
Geological processes have occasionally deposited sands that are composed of almost 100% quartz grains. These deposits have been identified and produced as sources of high-purity silica sand. These sands are used in the glassmaking industry. Quartz sand is used in the production of container glass, flat plate glass, specialty glass, and fiberglass. Quartz glass sand: […]
Quartz refers to a specific chemical compound (silicon dioxide, or silica, SiO2), having a specific crystalline form (hexagonal). It is found is all forms of rock: igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary. Quartz is physically and chemically resistant to weathering. When quartz-bearing rocks become weathered and eroded, the grains of resistant quartz are concentrated in the soil, […]
Quartz is beautiful. It shimmers in light and its rainbow of colors have stoked the imagination of everyone from admirers seeking spiritual healing to young geoscientists. But most quartz on Earth does not look like the gorgeous minerals we admire. Most of its forms are lackluster, dull and not translucent. But quartz plays important roles […]
Quartz is the mineral form of silica powder used in ceramic glazes and clay bodies. It is the mineral that silica “wants to be” when cooled from molten to solid (it can be other things depending on the speed of cooling). Unlike silica glass, the quartz phase of silica is subject to inversion and accompanying […]
quartz, widely distributed mineral of many varieties that consists primarily of silica, or silicon dioxide (SiO2). Minor impurities such as lithium, sodium, potassium, and titanium may be present. Quartz has attracted attention from the earliest times; water-clear crystals were known to the ancient Greeks as krystallos—hence the name crystal, or more commonly rock crystal, applied […]
The term ‘silica’ can be misleading. It is important to understand the difference between ‘silica mineral’, ‘silicates’, and ‘silica glass’. Quartz is the best example of a natural mineral that is almost pure silicon dioxide (it is the most abundant mineral on planet earth). Other ceramic minerals like feldspar and clay contain some ‘free silica’ […]
Quartz is a term used to describe many different compact forms of SiO2. As one of the second most common and varied minerals on earth, its abundant and can be found in crystalline form, naturally occurring, in many colors that produce different types of gemstones. What is Fused Quartz/Fused Silica? Fused quartz and fused silica […]
Quartz silica, also known as crystalline silica or crystalline silicone dioxide, is a mineral that is found in nature. It is one of the most abundant minerals on earth, and there are hundreds of different varieties of it, some of which are gemstones. The molecular structure of quartz silica is unusual and allows stones composed […]