Silica sands, which is to say sands with more than 95 per cent silica, have plenty of uses. We need them to help filter our water and to make foundry moulds into which you can pour molten metals. Without silica sands the rail system would grind to a halt, or rather it would fail to grind to a halt, since these sands are used in modern trains’ braking systems. But, most of all, silica sand is the primary ingredient in the manufacture of glass. And if you want the very clearest, finest glass, you need the very purest of all silica sands, sometimes called silver sands.
