Quartz

A ubiquitous mineral with an enormous number of uses

Article by: Hobart M. King, Ph.D., RPG

What is Quartz?
Quartz is a chemical compound consisting of one part
silicon and two parts oxygen. It is silicon dioxide (SiO2). It is
the most abundant mineral found at Earth's surface, and its
unique properties make it one of the most useful natural
substances.
Where is Quartz Found?
Quartz is the most abundant and widely distributed
mineral found at Earth's surface. It is present and plentiful in all
parts of the world. It forms at all temperatures. It is abundant in
igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. It is highly Quartz crystals: Herkimer
resistant to both mechanical and chemical weathering. This "Diamond" quartz crystals. A clear,
durability makes it the dominant mineral of mountaintops and "rock crystal" variety of quartz.
the primary constituent of beach, river, and desert sand. Quartz
is ubiquitous, plentiful and durable. Minable deposits are found
throughout the world.

What are the Uses for Quartz?

Rock crystal quartz: Transparent
"rock crystal" quartz. This specimen
shows the conchoidal fracture
(fracture that produces curved
surfaces) that is characteristic of
the mineral. Specimen is about four
inches (ten centimeters) across and
is from Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Quartz is one of the most useful natural materials. Its
usefulness can be linked to its physical and chemical
properties. It has a hardness of seven on the Mohs Scale which
makes it very durable. It is chemically inert in contact with
most substances. It has electrical properties and heat
resistance that make it valuable in electronic products. Its
luster, color, and diaphaneity make it useful as a gemstone and
also in the making of glass.
Uses of Quartz in Glass Making
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.
Uses of Quartz as an Abrasive
The high hardness of quartz, seven on the Mohs Scale, makes it harder than most other natural
substances. As such it is an excellent abrasive material. Quartz sands and finely ground silica sand are
used for sand blasting, scouring cleansers, grinding media, and grit for sanding and sawing.
Uses of Quartz as a Foundry Sand
Quartz is very resistant to both chemicals and heat. It is therefore often used as a foundry sand.
With a melting temperature higher than most metals, it can be used for the molds and cores of common
foundry work. Refractory bricks are often made of quartz sand because of its high heat resistance. Quartz
sand is also used as a flux in the smelting of metals.
Uses in the Petroleum Industry
Quartz sand has a high resistance to being crushed. In the petroleum industry, sand slurries are
forced down oil and gas wells under very high pressures in a process known as hydraulic fracturing. This
high pressure fractures the reservoir rocks, and the sandy slurry injects into the fractures. The durable
sand grains hold the fractures open after the pressure is released. These open fractures facilitate the flow
of natural gas into the well bore.
Many Other Quartz Sand Uses
Quartz sand is used as a filler in the manufacture of rubber, paint, and putty. Screened and
washed, carefully sized quartz grains are used as filter media and roofing granules. Quartz sands are used
for traction in the railroad and mining industries. These sands are also used in recreation on golf courses,
volleyball courts, baseball fields, children's sand boxes and beaches.
Many Other Quartz Sand Uses
Quartz sand is used as a filler in the manufacture of rubber, paint, and putty. Screened and
washed, carefully sized quartz grains are used as filter media and roofing granules. Quartz sands are used
for traction in the railroad and mining industries. These sands are also used in recreation on golf courses,
volleyball courts, baseball fields, children's sand boxes and beaches.
A wide variety of uses have also been developed for optical-grade quartz crystals. They are used
to make specialized lenses, windows and filters used in lasers, microscopes, telescopes, electronic
sensors, and scientific instruments. The material of beach sand is now the material of the world’s most
advanced electronic devices.
A Need for Synthetic Quartz Crystals
During the 1900s the demand for high-quality quartz crystals accelerated so rapidly that mining
operations around the world were unable to supply them in adequate quantities. Fortunately, this need was
realized during World War II, and military and private industry began working on methods to grow
synthetic quartz crystals to meet the special requirements of optical and electronics use.
Today, most of the quartz crystals used in electronic components and optical instruments are
grown in laboratories instead of produced from mines. Most of the laboratories grow their crystals using
methods based upon the geological process of hydrothermal activity. The synthetic crystals are grown at
high temperatures from superheated waters that are rich in dissolved silica. These manufactured crystals
can be grown in shapes, sizes and colors that match the needs of manufacturing processes. The cost of
growing synthetic quartz crystals is competitive with mining, and the only limit on production is the
availability of crystal growth equipment.
Quartz as a Gemstone
Quartz makes an excellent gemstone. It is hard, durable, and usually accepts a brilliant polish.
Popular varieties of quartz that are widely used as gems include: amethyst, citrine, rose quartz, smoky
quartz, and aventurine. Agate and jasper are also varieties of quartz with a microcrystalline structure.
Special Silica Stone Uses
"Silica stone" is an industrial term for materials such as quartzite, novaculite, and other
microcrystalline quartz rocks. These are used to produce abrasive tools, deburring media, grinding stones,
hones, oilstones, stone files, tube-mill liners, and whetstones.
Tripoli
Tripoli is crystalline silica of an extremely fine grain size (less than ten micrometers).
Commercial tripoli is a nearly pure silica material that is used for a variety of mild abrasive purposes
which include: soaps, toothpastes, metal-polishing compounds, jewelry-polishing compounds, and
buffing compounds. It can be used as a polish when making tumbled stones in a rock tumbler. Tripoli is
also used in brake friction products, fillers in enamel, caulking compounds, plastic, paint, rubber, and
refractories.
What is Obsidian?
Obsidian is an igneous rock that forms when molten rock material cools so rapidly that atoms
are unable to arrange themselves into a crystalline structure. It is an amorphous material
known as a "mineraloid." The result is a volcanic glass with a smooth uniform texture that
breaks with a conchoidal fracture (see photo).

Where Does Obsidian Form?

Obsidian is usually an extrusive rock - one that solidifies above Earth's surface. However, it
can form in a variety of cooling environments:

 along the edges of a lava flow (extrusive)

 along the edges of a volcanic dome (extrusive)
 around the edges of a sill or a dike (intrusive)
 where lava contacts water (extrusive)
 where lava cools while airborne (extrusive
 What Color is Obsidian?

Rainbow Obsidian: A baroque

cabochon of iridescent "rainbow
obsidian."

 Black is the most common color of obsidian. However, it can also be brown, tan, or
green. Rarely, obsidian can be blue, red, orange, or yellow. The colors are thought to
be caused mainly by trace elements or inclusions.
 Occasionally two colors of obsidian will be swirled together in a single specimen. The
most common color combination is black and brown obsidian swirled together - that's
called "mahogany obsidian" (see photo).
 As a "glass," obsidian is chemically unstable. With the passage of time, some obsidian
begins to crystallize. This process does not happen at a uniform rate throughout the
rock. Instead it begins at various locations within the rock. At these locations, the
crystallization process forms radial clusters of white or gray cristobalite crystals
within the obsidian. When cut and polished, these specimens are referred to as
"snowflake obsidian" (see photos).
 Rarely, obsidian has an iridescent or metallic "sheen" caused by light reflecting from
minute inclusions of mineral crystals, rock debris, or gas. These colored specimens
are known as "rainbow obsidian," "golden obsidian," or "silver obsidian," depending
upon the color of the sheen or iridescence. These specimens are very desirable for the
manufacture of jewelry.
What is the Composition of Obsidian?
Most obsidians have a composition similar to rhyolite and granite. Granites and rhyolites can
form from the same magma as obsidian and are often geographically associated with the
obsidian.

Rarely, volcanic glasses are found with a composition similar to basalt and gabbro. These
glassy rocks are named "tachylyte."

Are There Other Glassy Igneous Rocks?

Pumice, scoria, and tachylyte are other volcanic glasses formed by rapid cooling. Pumice and
scoria differ from obsidian by having abundant vesicles - cavities in the rock produced when
gas bubbles were trapped in a solidifying melt. Tachylyte differs in composition - it has a
composition similar to basalt and gabbro.

Occurrence of Obsidian
Obsidian is found in many locations worldwide. It is confined to areas of geologically recent
volcanic activity. Obsidian older than a few million years is rare because the glassy rock is
rapidly destroyed or altered by weathering, heat, or other processes.

Significant deposits of obsidian are found in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Greece,
Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru,
Russia, United States, and many other locations.

In the United States it is not found east of the Mississippi River, as there is no geologically
recent volcanic activity there. In the western US it is found at many locations in Arizona,
California, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Most obsidian
used in the jewelry trade is produced in the United States.

Uses of Obsidian as a Cutting Tool

The conchoidal fracture of obsidian causes it to break into pieces with curved surfaces. This
type of fracturing can produce rock fragments with very sharp edges. These sharp fragments
may have prompted the first use of obsidian by people.

The first use of obsidian by people probably occurred when a sharp piece of obsidian was
used as a cutting tool. People then discovered how to skillfully break the obsidian to produce
cutting tools in a variety of shapes. Obsidian was used to make knives, arrowheads, spear
points, scrapers, and many other weapons and tools.

Once these discoveries were made, obsidian quickly became the raw material of preference
for producing almost any sharp object. The easy-to-recognize rock became one of the first
targets of organized "mining." It is probably a safe bet that all natural obsidian outcrops that
are known today were discovered and utilized by ancient people.
Obsidian in Modern Surgery
Although using a rock as a cutting tool might sound like "stone age equipment," obsidian
continues to play an important role in modern surgery. Obsidian can be used to produce a
cutting edge that is thinner and sharper than the best surgical steel. Today, thin blades of
obsidian are placed in surgical scalpels used for some of the most precise surgery. In
controlled studies, the performance of obsidian blades was equal to or superior to the
performance of surgical steel.

Uses of Obsidian in Jewelry

Obsidian is a popular gemstone. It is often cut into beads and cabochons or used to
manufacture tumbled stones. Obsidian is sometimes faceted and polished into highly
reflective beads. Some transparent specimens are faceted to produce interesting gems.

The use of obsidian in jewelry can be limited by its durability. It has a hardness of about 5.5
which makes it easy to scratch. It also lacks toughness and is easily broken or chipped upon
impact. These durability concerns make obsidian an inappropriate stone for rings and
bracelets. It is best suited for use in low-impact pieces such as earrings, brooches, and
pendants.

Obsidian is also used in making opal doublets and opal triplets. Thin slices or chips of opal
are glued to a thin slice of obsidian to make a composite stone. The black obsidian provides
an inexpensive and color-contrasting background that makes opal's colorful fire much more
obvious. It also adds mass and stability to the opal that facilitates cutting it into a gem.

Other Uses of Obsidian

Freshly broken pieces of obsidian have a very high luster. Ancient people noticed that they
could see a reflection in obsidian and used it as a mirror. Later, pieces of obsidian were
ground flat and highly polished to improve their reflective abilities.

Obsidian's hardness of 5.5 makes it relatively easy to carve. Artists have used obsidian to
make masks, small sculptures, and figurines for thousands of years.
What is Corundum?
Corundum is a rock-forming mineral that is found in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary
rocks. It is an aluminum oxide with a chemical composition of Al2O3 and a hexagonal crystal
structure.

The mineral is widely known for its extreme hardness and for the fact that it is sometimes
found as beautiful transparent crystals in many different colors. The extreme hardness makes
corundum an excellent abrasive, and when that hardness is found in beautiful crystals, you
have the perfect material for cutting gemstones.

Natural and synthetic corundum are used in a wide variety of industrial applications because
of their toughness, hardness, and chemical stability. They are used to make industrial
bearings, scratch-resistant windows for electronic instruments, wafers for circuit boards, and
many other products

Made Famous by Rubies and Sapphires

Most people are familiar with corundum; however, very few people know it by its mineral
name - instead they know it by the names "ruby" and "sapphire." A gemstone-quality
specimen of corundum with a deep red color is known as a "ruby." A gemstone-quality
corundum with a blue color is called a "sapphire." Colorless corundum is known as "white
sapphire." Corundum of any other color is known as "fancy sapphire."

Geologic Occurrence of Corundum

Corundum is found as a primary mineral in igneous rocks such as syenite, nepheline syenite,
and pegmatite. Some of the world's most important ruby and sapphire deposits are found
where the gems have weathered from basalt flows and are now found in the downslope soils
and sediments.

Corundum is also found in metamorphic rocks in locations where aluminous shales or

bauxites have been exposed to contact metamorphism. Schist, gneiss, and marble produced
by regional metamorphism will sometimes contain corundum. Some of the sapphires and
rubies of highest quality, color, and clarity are formed in marble along the edges of
subsurface magma bodies.

Corundum's toughness, high hardness, and chemical resistance enable it to persist in

sediments long after other minerals have been destroyed. This is why it is often found
concentrated in alluvial deposits.

These deposits are the most important source of rubies and sapphires in several parts of the
world. Traditional sources of alluvial rubies and sapphires include Burma, Cambodia, Sri
Lanka, India, Afghanistan, Montana, and other areas. In the past few decades, several parts of
Africa, including Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, and Malawi, have become
important producers of ruby and sapphire.
Use as a Gemstone
In the gemstone and jewelry market, almost all of the attention goes to a small group of gems
known as "the big four": diamond, ruby, sapphire, and emerald. Two of these, ruby and
sapphire, are gem corundums.

These most popular gems are highly sought after and have been mined in many parts of the
world for thousands of years. Today, millions of rubies and sapphires are required every year
to meet the demands of the jewelry market -- from inexpensive commercial stones sold in
malls and department stores to spectacular specimens used in designer and custom jewelry.
The demand for attractive stones exceeds the abilities of mines to supply. As a result, the
prices paid for attractive natural stones have risen to high levels.

When a consumer wants a "ruby ring" or a "sapphire pendant," they are generally not
interested in substituting a red spinel, blue iolite, or other attractive gem of similar color.
They want "ruby" or they want "sapphire." Retail jewelers, especially those selling pieces and
sets for under $500, have been increasingly presenting synthetic or "lab-created" gems
alongside the natural stones in their display cases.

The synthetic materials have the same aluminum oxide composition and crystal structure as
natural rubies and sapphires. Their color is also produced by the same trace elements
(chromium for ruby and iron with titanium for sapphire).

They have the same optical appeal and usually a better physical appearance than similar-size
natural stones of the same price. As a result, many consumers now gladly purchase synthetic
stones because they receive a more attractive product at a price that they can afford. Over the
long term, synthetic gems are likely to continue displacing natural stones from the market,
especially in the lower and middle price ranges where consumers are very conscious about
price.

There is nothing wrong with selling or purchasing jewelry that contains synthetic gemstones
as long as two conditions are met: 1) the seller must disclose the fact that the gemstones are
products of man rather than products of nature; and, 2) the buyer clearly understands that the
gemstones are synthetic and made by people rather than being products of nature.

Hardness and Use as an Abrasive

The extreme hardness of corundum makes it especially useful as an abrasive. Crushed
corundum is processed to remove impurities and then screened to produce uniformly sized
granules and powders. These are used for grinding media, polishing compounds, sand papers,
grinding wheels, and other cutting applications.

Some problems with using natural corundum as an abrasive are that the deposits are usually
small, irregular in shape, and the corundum is of variable quality. They are not reliable
sources of consistent-quality material needed to run a manufacturing process. Synthetic
corundum, produced using calcined bauxite, has become a more reliable source with more
consistent properties. It has replaced natural corundum in most manufactured products.
Other Uses of Corundum
Corundum has many other uses. It is chemically inert and resistant to heat. These properties
make it a perfect material for making refractory products such as fire brick, kiln liners, and
kiln furniture. Today, these products are usually made with synthetic corundum.

Pure corundum is colorless, transparent, durable, and scratch resistant. Large crystals of clear
synthetic corundum are grown, sawn into thin sheets, and then used as the windows of
grocery store scanners, watch crystals, aircraft windows, and protective covers for electronic
devices.