History Silica sand has been quarried in Saskatchewan since the 1930s, primarily as a smelter flux for the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. Ltd. copper-zinc smelter in Flin Flon. A variety of sands have been used for this purpose. The sand is a product of mechanical and chemical weathering of quartz-bearing igneous and metamorphic rocks such as granites and some gneisses. Erosion and chemical weathering break down the less stable minerals such as feldspars and release the more stable ones such as quartz and zircon. The stable mineral fragments are transported and redeposited in water. Wave and stream action may further modify the deposits by sorting and washing until a relatively pure deposit of silica sand remains. Description of Mineral Silica sand is an industrial term used for sand or easily disaggregated sandstone with a very high percentage of quartz (silica) grains. Location The best known deposit of silica sand is located along the Red Deer River northeast of the town of Hudson Bay. These sands contain up to about 98.5 per cent silica (SiO2). About 10 to 14 million tonnes of resources have been identified in the Cretaceous Mannville Formation. Large resources of silica sand similar to, and of the same age as the Red Deer River deposits, lie at shallow depths in the region extending from Wapawekka Lake southward to about Highway 165 and westward to the Bow River. Silica sands, of Ordovician age, outcrop near the Hanson Lake in east-central Saskatchewan. The sand grains are highly rounded and may be useful for hydraulic fracturing in oil wells. These sands appear to be a very high grade and might be suitable for silicon production and some higher technology applications. Kaolinized sands of the Cretaceous Whitemud Formation in southern Saskatchewan contain about 50 per cent fine sand and have potential as a useful by-product of future kaolin mining. Producers of Silica Sand The largest user of Saskatchewan's silica sand is Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. Ltd. in Flin Flon. An estimated six million tonnes of metallurgical sand have been used by the company since 1933. The Red Deer River deposits are being developed using on-site screening and washing facilities for the production of white sand for the golf course bunker market. Tests conducted on Cretaceous and Ordovician Winnipeg Formation sands demonstrate that the sands can be effectively upgraded by various methods. Deposits near Hanson Lake and in the Bow River area are being investigated by industry. Uses for Silica Sand Industrial uses of silica sand depend on its purity and physical characteristics. Some of the more important physical properties are: grain size and distribution, grain shape, sphericity, grain strength and refractoriness. Saskatchewan deposits presently are used primarily as a metallurgical sand. The copper and zinc smelter at Flin Flon uses the sand as a fluxing agent which, in the molten state, reacts with various impurities in the ore and produces a slag. The slag is drawn off with the impurities, leaving a more refined metal behind. Silica sands have a large number of other industrial uses depending on their characteristics. production of glass foundry sand ceramics sandblasting and other abrasives building products filler and extender production of silicon and silicon carbide pigments hydraulic fracturing and propping in the oil industry ultra high silica products in the electronic and fibre optic industries, fused silica, silicone products water filtration Economic Impact for Saskatchewan Other market opportunities are being investigated including glass, foundry, filtration, and frac sand for the oil industry. Industry is currently investigating various silica sand deposits.