Garnet

Garnet is synonymous with jewellery and very few know about its industrial applications in the last decade. Garnet is not a single mineral, but is the name of a group of six members having different mineralogical compositions but common order of crystallization, hardness, specific gravity etc. In general, they are silicates of aluminium with different proportions of iron, calcium, magnesium, chromium & manganese in the composition giving rise to different varieties. Almandine is the common garnet, also known as Abrasive Garnet because of its hardness and capacity to retain its crystal structure, a major deciding factor in abrasive blasting. Garnet is found in free form associated with a few other heavy minerals and in high concentration in the beach abrasive. Varying magnetic properties and conductivity enable the separation of various constituent minerals in the beach abrasive in dry state. Heavy Mineral Beach abrasive, also known as “Beach Placers”, are identified in parts of Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu on the east coast and Kerala on the west coast of India.