Industrial Utilization of White Silica Sandstone in Riyadh Area, Saudi Arabia PDF

Keywords

sandstone, industrial utilization, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

There are many potential sources of white silica sandstone deposits in Saudi Arabia. One of them is Biyadh Formation east of Riyadh city. To evaluate the possible utilization of such natural resource, 221 samples were collected and analyzed mineralogically (19 samples), physically (221 samples) and chemically (135 samples). Mineralogically, the sandstone is quartz arenite (> 95% quartz), and the remaining includes feldspar, mica and stable heavy minerals (opaque, tourmaline, zircon and rutile). Physically, it is medium size, moderately well sorted. Chemically, it has a high silica content (> 94% Si02). The conducted chemical and physical analyses revealed that the white silica sandstone in Riyadh area (untreated) is favorable for use in the manufacture of glass. For sand filtration process in water purification, the effective size of untreated sand is below the lower limits specified for such use.