White sand

You can see the active quarry here. This is still being mined for the white sand. This is a fine-grained, white, extremely pure sand with a low iron content. It consists almost entirely of quartz.

That is why it is particularly suitable as a basic raw material for the glass industry. It is used not only in the high-quality glass industry, but also as a raw material for enamel and porcelain, the chemical industry and in foundries. To this end, it is used as a raw material for heat-resistant materials. It is additionally used in detergents, abrasives and adhesives.
White sand is also used as a soil material in aviaries. In addition, white sand is used as a surface for artificial grass at sports fields. Furthermore, it is used for preparing fine mortar.

Quartz sand of such quality occurs only in a limited number of places in the world.

In addition to Maasmechelen, white sand is also found in Lommel and Mol in Flanders. The only Belgian company that operates quartz sand is Sibelco. They own all possible concessions in Belgium.

Sibelco also controls more than 90% of the market in the Netherlands and is the world market leader in the field of white sand mining.
The quarry will remain active until 2018. The valuable sand is pumped up by boat and pumped through underground pipes to a factory 4 to 5 km away. In the meantime, the mined parts are being redesigned, in which nature restoration is central. For example, large sand packets are applied to create a suitable biotope for a number of rare butterfly species such as the heather butterfly and the comma butterfly.

Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos