Quartz Ore

Nigeria is a miner’s delight because its mining laws and the process for mining title acquisition are simple. Mining of solid mineral in Nigeria is still in its infancy and investors who come in now will benefit enormously as virgin sites are scattered in many locations in the country. The benefit accorded an early bird in Nigeria mining industry will be enormous because government is willing to encourage investment in that sector and therefore is giving concessions to investors in the mining industry now. Concession can be in the form of tax rebates and support in sourcing of heavy duty equipment used in mining

Quartz is a mineral composed of silicon and oxygen atoms in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical formula of SiO2. Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in Earth‘s continental crust, behind feldspar

There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones. Since antiquity, varieties of quartz have been the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewelry and hardstone carvings

 

VARIETIES OF QUARTZ

Although many of the varietal names historically arose from the color of the mineral, current scientific naming schemes refer primarily to the microstructure of the mineral. Color is a secondary identifier for the cryptocrystalline minerals, although it is a primary identifier for the macrocrystalline varieties

 

Major varieties of quartz
Type	Color & Description	Transparent
Herkimer Diamond	Colorless	Transparent
Rock crystal	Colorless	Transparent
Amethyst	Purple	Transparent
Ametrine	Zones of purple and yellow or orange	Transparent
Rose quartz	Pink, may display diasterism	Transparent
Chalcedony	Cryptocrystalline quartz and moganite mixture. The term is generally only used for white or lightly colored material. Otherwise more specific names are used.
Carnelian	Reddish orange chalcedony	Translucent
Aventurine	Chalcedony with small inclusions (usually mica) that shimmer	Translucent
Agate	Multi-colored, banded chalcedony	Semi-translucent to translucent
Onyx	Agate where the bands are straight, parallel and consistent in size.
Jasper	Cryptocrystalline quartz, typically red to brown	Opaque
Milky quartz	White, may display diasterism	Translucent to opaque
Smoky quartz	Brown to gray	Opaque
Tiger’s eye	Fibrous gold to red-brown colored quartz, exhibiting chatoyancy.
Citrine	Yellow to reddish orange to brown, greenish yellow	Transparent
Prasiolite	Mint green	Transparent
Rutilated quartz	Contains acicular (needle-like) inclusions of rutile
Dumortierite quartz	Contains large amounts of dumortierite crystals

 

Quartz is a defining constituent of granite and other felsic igneous rocks. It is very common in sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and shale. It is a common constituent of schist, gneiss, quartzite and other metamorphic rocks. Quartz has the lowest potential for weathering in the Goldich dissolution series and consequently it is very common as a residual mineral in stream sediments and residual soils

APPLICATION

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.

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.

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.

 

Quartz as Foundry Sand

Quartz is very resistant to both chemicals and heat. It is therefore often used as 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

OTHER USES

Quartz sand is used as 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.

Quartz Crystals

One of the most amazing properties of quartz is the ability of its crystals to vibrate at precise frequencies. These frequencies are so precise that quartz crystals can be used to make extremely accurate time-keeping instruments and equipment that can transmit radio and television signals with precise and stable frequencies.

The tiny devices used for these purposes are known as “crystal oscillators.” The first crystal oscillators were developed in the 1920s, and just twenty years later, tens of millions of them were needed each year to supply the military during World War II. Today, billions of quartz crystals are used to make oscillators for watches, clocks, radios, televisions, electronic games, computers, cell phones, electronic meters, and GPS 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, and aventurine. Agate and jasper are also varieties of quartz with a microcrystalline structure.

EXPORT OF QUARTZ

Quartz can be exported after sorting into size and packaging. Packaging is usually in 50 Kg since the price is quoted in Metric tons. 1000/KG makes 1 ton and this helps in easy containerization of the goods since most shipping company prefer to carry 20 tons in 20 feet container. In shipping mineral ores, 20 feet container is usually preferred because of the weight of the ores.

The sorting of the ore simply refers to the breaking down of the ore into the desired sizes as agreed with the buyer. Sizes usually range from 0-50-100 mm and care must be taken while this is being done because if the product is not broken to the desired size, it might lead to a reduction in price or rejection of goods.

In the export of the quartz, some of the cost to consider includes cost of the ore at the site, cost of transportation to site for crushing/loading {in case the mining site is not accessible to trucks}, cost of crushing, cost of packaging, cost of loading it to the truck, cost of transportation to Warehouse/port, cost of analysis, cost of freight, agent fee, and miscellaneous. All these cost will be worked out for any potential investor so that you can have a better view of the return on investment

REFINING

This facility do not exist in the Nigeria presently thus it presents a fantastic investment opportunity for a savvy investor to take advantage of, such investor will refine the quartz ore and then sell to local or international buyers. This fetches more return on investment even though the investment is huge

MARKET

Export of crude quartz ore is good business but refining to obtain pure Quartz ready to be used is better although it requires enormous investment so also is the return on investment. Global quartz consumption is steadily increasing, and currently stands at some 90 million metric tons 2017 report. Forecasts for global quartz demand show the same trend. The leading refined quartz consuming countries are Russia, China, Japan, Norway and South Korea. Demand for quartz worldwide is expected to grow largely because of increased consumption in Russia, which is being driven by growth in the solar and semiconductor manufacturing channels and other related businesses

 

REQUIREMENT AND CONDITIONS FOR MINING IN NIGERIA

There are two options available to a company or an individual to enter into the mining industry in Nigeria.

1. Through the acquisition of an existing mining Lease from the original owner. Approval must be obtained from the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development for such a purchase.
2. Fresh mining lease

Procedure for Mineral Title Licences/Leases and Permits: 

Duly completed application form

Coordinates of the area of application

Certificate of incorporation

Attestation

Letter of consent from landowner(s)/occupier(s)

Types of minerals

Work programme/pre-feasibility report

Evidence of payment

Technical capability

Financial capability

 

In order to encourage investment in the solid minerals industry in Nigeria, Government is offering the following incentives

1. 3-5 years Tax Holiday
2. Deferred royalty payments
3. Possible capitalization of expenditure on exploration and surveys
4. Extension of infrastructure such as roads and electricity to mining sites, and provision of 100% foreign ownership of mining concerns.

The mining industry in Nigeria is regulated by the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act of 2007, National Minerals and Metals Policy 2008 and Nigerian Minerals and Mining Regulations 2011.

 

CONCLUSION

Business Advisory Network ‘BAN’ will work with you and assist you to process mining lease from the federal government. We will help you source for a site with rich mineral content. Mining is a technical field although the financial reward is enormous; therefore to succeed you need experts to guide you to avoid fatal mistakes that will erode your capital.

Other things BAN can do for you include but are not limited to helping you to determine the grade of quartz ore at the site, source market for your mined minerals, both locally and internationally. BAN will also help you arrange security at your mining sites. It will interest you to know that export of refined pure quartz is where you will make a kill. BAN will help you to set up a refinery for quartz ore in Nigeria. The capital outlay for this is huge but even so much more is the return on investment.