Meet a Nevada Mineral: Silica

Nevada is well known for its gold and silver mining, but the state produces more than 20 minerals we use every day. Here are 4 things you may not know about one of those minerals: Silica

You’ll see it around

Silica is a common mineral and is typically found on the earth’s surface in quartz rock and sand. Silica sand is the form in which most silica is mined. Nevada mined 727,088 tons of silica in 2017.

Nothing to “Glass” over

Though most tend to look right through it, silica is all around us. It’s easy to do though, because silica is the key component of glass. Silica sand is melted, combined with other ingredients and then poured into molds of products like windows, bottles, glasses, jars, and solar panels.

Keeping everything dry

Ever notice those little gel packets inside bags of food products? That’s silica! The mineral is able to absorb water moisture that spoils dried food and can damage leather products like shoes. Just don’t eat the packets, no matter how appetizing they look.

Holds up under heat

One of the many challenges of space exploration is the extreme range of temperatures shuttles face during missions. Silica based aerogel is used to insulate ships that can withstand high temperatures while keeping components of ship fuel like liquid oxygen (-183 degrees C) and liquid hydrogen (-253 degrees C) at temperatures needed to prevent them from turning into gasses.

Want to learn more about the 20 minerals produced in Nevada? Check out our minerals page.