Mining




Quartz is extracted from open pit mines. Miners only use explosives on rare occasions when they need to expose a deep seam of quartz. The reason for this is that although quartz is known for its hardness, it damages easily if it is suddenly exposed to a change in temperature, such as that caused by a blast. Instead, mining operations use bulldozers and backhoes to remove soil and clay, and expose the quartz crystal veins in the rock.

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