VALUE ADDITION TO LOCAL VEIN QUARTZ IN

PRODUCING INDUSTRIAL GRADE SILICA

Supun Sashiendra Pathirage

(158007M)

Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of
Science

Department of Earth Resources Engineering

University of Moratuwa
Sri Lanka

February 2018
 DECLARATION

“I declare that this is my own work and this thesis does not incorporate without
acknowledgement any material previously submitted for a Degree or Diploma in any
other University or institute of higher learning and to the best of my knowledge and belief
it does not contain any material previously published or written by another person except
where the acknowledgement is made in the text.
Also, I hereby grant to University of Moratuwa the non-exclusive right to reproduce and
distribute my thesis, in whole or in part in print, electronic or other medium. I retain the
right to use this content in whole or part in future works.

Signature: Date:

The above candidate has carried out research for the Masters thesis under my supervision.

Name of the supervisor: Prof: N. P Ratnayake

Signature of the supervisor: Date:

The above candidate has carried out research for the Masters thesis under my supervision.

Name of the supervisor: Dr. L. P. S. Rohitha

Signature of the supervisor: Date:

I
 ABSTRACT
Applications of high-purity quartz as a raw material in high-tech industry are numerous. A few
of them includes semiconductors, microchips, industrial integrated circuits, high temperature
lamp tubing, optical fibers, chemically reinforced glass and solar silicon cells. Sri Lanka is rich
in quartz mineralization with an abundance of major vein quartz deposits with purity levels over
99.5% of SiO2. Developing high-tech products requires considerable capital investment, expertise
and advance processing technologies which are lacking in developing countries like Sri Lanka.
Thus leading to export raw quartz with enforced size reduction of run-of quarry quartz in grit and
powder forms to industrialized countries without further value addition. Therefore, an alternative
approach is evaluated and recommended to achieve a higher level of value addition by exporting
semi-processed and processed industry specific quartz raw material. Chemical composition of
major types of vein quartz and mining activities of 7 vein quartz deposits and mass scale quartz
processing at a plant located in Badulla district of Uva Province, Sri Lanka have been subjected
to study. Critical step evaluation of the process in mining, transport and processing activities was
carried out with reference to critical trace elements by using isodynamic magnetic separator,
inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy and atomic absorption
spectrophotometer. Results show that colourless quartz contains the lowest trace elements
concentration while feldspar-associated quartz has the highest. Lowest Fe, Al, Cr, Mn and Ni
levels were observed in colourless and milky quartz in selected deposits. Manual chipping of Fe
stains reduce Fe levels of 300 ppm while soil contamination increase Fe levels by 375 ppm.
Transportation in iron lined trailer has a possibility to increase Fe levels up to 150 ppm due to
contact with rust layer. In processing, Fe levels can be reduced by more than 20 ppm by
removing the finer size fraction in each crushing step. Further reduction can be obtained to a level
below 9 ppm by dry magnetic separation with 10,000 gauss 24 trays magnetic separators. Through
selective mining and exercising quality control in mining, transportation and processing activities,
industry specific quartz raw material can be produced.

Key words: Vein quartz, Chemically reinforced glass, Silica

II
DEDICATED TO SRI LANKANS WHO CONTRIBUTED FOR FREE
EDUCATION

III
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would firstly like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors Prof. N.P. Ratnayake
and Dr. L.P.S.Rohitha for the guidance, dedication and helping hand throughout this
study and made this research to harvest its maximum benefits.

My deepest gratitude is extended to Mrs. Y.P.S. Siriwardhana, Chief Chemist of

Geological Survey and Mines Bureau for the assistance, encouragement and support
extended to me at all times during my work as area specialist and guidance in chemical
analysis with ICP-OES.
I am also grateful to Mr. K. Kumaranayagam, Chairman of Woolim Lanka Pvt Ltd, all
the staff at Woolim Lanka for readily providing all the facilities to successfully carryout
this research within fully equipped chemical laboratory for a time period of three years.

I would also like to acknowledge The Head of the Department, research coordinator,
academic staff and non-academic staff members of Department of Earth Resources
Engineering, for providing me the opportunity and facilities to use laboratories and
resources for the research.
My special gratitude to my parents, wife, son and friends for their valuable guidance and
support offered during my research period.

IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration of the candidates & supervisors I
Abstract II
Dedication III
Acknowledgment IV
Table of content V
List of Figures VIII
List of Tables X
List of Abbreviations XII
List of Appendices XIII

1. CHAPTER 01 – Introduction and Objectives

1.1. Introduction 1
1.1.1. Background 1
1.1.2. Research Problem 3
1.2. Objectives 3
1.2.1. Research Objectives 3
2. CHAPTER 02 – Literature Review
2.1. Introduction 4
2.1.1. Introduction - Silica 4
2.1.2. SiO2 Modifications and Varieties 4
2.2. Characteristics of Quartz 5
2.3. Properties of Quartz 6
2.3.1. SiO2 Content 6
2.3.2. Point Defects 9
2.3.3. Trace Elements 10
2.3.4. Fluid and Mineral Inclusions 11
2.4. Upgrading Quartz Using Processing Techniques 11
2.4.1. Pre-processing 12
2.4.2. Physical Processing 14
2.4.3. Chemical Treatment 15
2.4.4. Thermal Treatment 16

V
 2.5. Sri Lankan Geology 16
2.5.1. Silica Types in Sri Lanka 16
2.6. Quartz Production and Export 18
2.6.1. Export Quantities of Vein Quartz 19
2.6.2. Export Prices of Vein Quartz 20
2.6.3. Sri Lankan Export Taxes Applicable to Vein Quartz 21
2.6.4. World Market Prices of Vein Quartz 21
2.7. Health Hazard in Quartz Industry 22
2.7.1. Silicosis 22
2.7.2. Occurrence of Silicosis in Sri Lankan quartz industry 23
3. CHAPTER 03 – Materials and Methodology
3.1. Introduction 24
3.2. Study Area 24
3.2.1. Location 24
3.2.2. Climate 27
3.3. Methodology 27
3.3.1. Selection of Sample Location 27
3.3.2. Sampling Method 29
3.3.3. Analysis 30
4. CHAPTER 04 – Result and Discussion
4.1. Introduction 32
4.2. Quartz Types 32
4.2.1. SiO2 Content 37
4.2.2. Trace Element Content and Variation 38
4.3. Gas and Fluid Inclusions 46
4.4. Chipping Quartz Lumps 47
4.5. Soil Contamination 49
4.6. Contamination in Transportation 51
4.7. Removal of Fe Using Size Reduction 51
4.8. Removal of Fe Using Magnetic Separators 55
5. CHAPTER 05 – Conclusion and Recommendation
5.1. Conclusions 56

VI
 5.2. Recommendations 56

Reference List 58
Appendix 1 Fe concentration in selected vein quartz deposits in Badulla 63
Appendix 2 Fe concentration in feldspar-associated quartz 63
Appendix 3 Al concentration in selected vein quartz deposits in Badulla 64
Appendix 4 Cr concentration in selected vein quartz deposits in Badulla 65
Appendix 5 Mn concentration in selected vein quartz deposits in Badulla 66
Appendix 6 Ni concentration in selected vein quartz deposits in Badulla 67
Appendix 7 Fe concentration in trailer contaminated quartz and clean 67
Quartz
Appendix 8 Prevention techniques of iron in quartz processing plant 68

VII
LIST OF FUGURES

Page
Figure 2.3.1 Purity levels with applied industrial applications 07
Figure 2.1.2 Varieties of quartz 08
Figure 2.3.2 Schematic structure of α-quartz and most common 09
point defects
Figure 2.5.1 Vein quartz deposits of Sri Lanka 17
Figure 3.2.1 Location of seven quartz deposits, Badulla, Sri Lanka 25
Figure 3.2.1-1 Location of the quartz processing factory, Badulla, 26
Sri Lanka
Figure 3.2.2 Monthly average rainfall in Badulla area from 27
1994 to 2014
Figure 3.3.1 Quartz processing flow chart at model processing plant 28
Figure 3.3.1-1 Quartz mining flow chart at selected deposits 29
Figure 4.2.1 Major 6 Types of Quartz in Badulla Area 36
Figure 4.2.2.1 Fe concentration in selected vein quartz deposits 38
Figure 4.2.2.2 Al concentration in selected vein quartz deposits 41
Figure 4.2.2.3 Cr concentration in selected vein quartz deposits 42
Figure 4.2.2.4 Mn concentration in selected vein quartz deposits 44
Figure 4.2.2.5 Ni concentration in selected vein quartz deposits 45
Figure 4.4 Fe stains in milky quartz in selected vein quartz 47
deposits of Badulla
Figure 4.4-1 Graphical comparison of Fe concentration in Fe 48
stained quartz chips and cleaned lumps
Figure 4.5 Comparison of the trace element content of soil 50
contaminated and clean quartz
Figure 4.6 Comparison of Fe concentration in trailer 51
contaminated quartz and clean quartz
Figure 4.7 Comparison of Fe concentration of grit products 52
+1 mm and -1 mm

VIII
Figure 4.7-1 Comparison of Fe concentrations of grit products 54
80- 300 µ and – 80 µ measured using isodynamic
magnetic separator
Figure 4.8 Comparison of Fe levels before and after magnetic 55
separation

IX
LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 2.1.2 Modifications of SiO2 having the same mineral 05

phase and their crystal structure
Table 2.6 Production quantities of vein quartz 19
Table 2.6-1 Export quantities and local usage of vein quartz 19
Table 2.6.1 Country-wise export quantities of vein quartz 20
Table 2.6.2 Export quantities and prices of vein quartz 20
Table 2.6 .4 Typical silica sand and quartz specification 21
by market
Table 3.2.1 Description of Sample Locations 24
Table 3.3.3.2 Operating conditions of ICP-OES 31
Table 4.2 Quartz types and cause of colours 32
Table 4.2-1 Trace element content of milky quartz from vein 33
quartz deposits of Badulla, Sri Lanka
Table 4.2-2 Trace element content of rose quartz from vein 33
quartz deposits of Badulla, Sri Lanka
Table 4.2-3 Trace element content of smokey quartz from vein 34
quartz deposits of Badulla, Sri Lanka
Table 4.2-4 Trace element content of colourless quartz from 34
vein quartz deposits of Badulla, Sri Lanka
Table 4.2-5 Trace element content of mica-associated quartz 35
from vein quartz deposits of Badulla, Sri Lanka
Table 4.2-6 Trace element content of feldspar-associated quartz 35
from vein quartz deposits of Badulla, Sri Lanka
Table 4.2-7 Permissible levels of chemical composition in 37
quartz raw material for different types of industrial
applications of quartz
Table 4.4 Fe concentration of Fe stainedquartz chips and 48
cleaned lumps
Table 4.5 Trace element contents of soil contaminated quartz 49

X
 selected vein quartz deposits of Badulla
Table 4.7 Fe concentrations of grit products +1 mm and – 1 mm 53
Table 4.7-1 Fe concentrations of grit products 80- 300 µ and – 80 µ 53
Table 4.8 Comparison of Fe concentration before and 55
after magnetic separation

XI
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AAS - Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer

BOI - Board of Investment
ESR - Electron Spin Resonance
FOB - Free On Board
GDP - Gross Domestic Product
HC - Highland Complex
HPQ - High Purity Quartz
ICP-OES - Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy
ILO - International Labour Organization
NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology
NIR - Near Infrared
SiO2 - Silicon Dioxide
SRM - Standard Reference Materials
VC - Vijayan Complex
WC - Wanni Complex
XRT - X-ray Transmission

XII
LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix Description Page

Appendix 1 Fe concentration in selected vein quartz deposits in Badulla 58

Appendix 2 Fe concentration in feldspar-associated quartz 63
Appendix 3 Al concentration in selected vein quartz deposits in Badulla 63
Appendix 4 Cr concentration in selected vein quartz deposits in Badulla 64
Appendix 5 Mn concentration in selected vein quartz deposits in Badulla 65
Appendix 6 Ni concentration in selected vein quartz deposits in Badulla 66
Appendix 7 Fe concentration in trailer contaminated quartz and clean
Quartz 67
Appendix 8 Prevention techniques of iron in quartz processing plant 68

XIII