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fazalmajid t1_ixaondf wrote

In India, illegal sand mining is a big mafia business. Apparently only some specific kinds of sand are usable for concrete, and the world is running out.

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Sorcerous_Tiefling t1_ixb6ll6 wrote

This is correct. Sand that you would find in deserts has been blowing around for so long that it is extremely fine and uniform which actually makes it very bad for construction purposes.

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dumbleydore94 t1_ixcwzsv wrote

Ok, there's probably a very good reason I'm just to uneducated to realize, but why don't we take some of that desert sand and replace island sand with it?

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sofa_king_we_todded t1_ixcy8pc wrote

Making a guess but might be two reasons at least: one, it’ll be extremely expensive for little benefit. Second, for the same reason why it’s bad in concrete, the grains of sand are so small and smooth that it probably won’t keep its shape and disperse too easily in the water

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fazalmajid t1_ixd1kew wrote

I believe it is too smooth and it doesn't stick to the cement in concrete well enough.

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tequila_slurry t1_ixf8pi8 wrote

Ocean sand naturally has microscopic small particles of shells/coral etc. which actually make up a great deal of it. These are an absolutely necessary component of concrete. That's why glass bottles ground into sand, granite sand, and desert sand are completely unsuitable in making concrete. I believe it's more about chemical makeup than grit size (which would be completely controllable when grinding glass and stone into sand).

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RedSonGamble t1_ixaic7g wrote

Sand is the new gold. If you know somewhere that has sand go gather it up and wait for the value to skyrocket. Quick everyone!

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sonofblackbird t1_ixazca4 wrote

Don’t let r/WallStreetBets catch wind of this or $and will skyrocket

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RedSonGamble t1_ixb3m3f wrote

Lmao I wish. I can just imagine people with shovels down at the beach. However if there wasn’t tons of sand it would be funny to inflate the price of sand. No more sandboxes a 25lb bag of sand is now 1k

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RobinsShaman t1_ixa8vr3 wrote

Sand mining is the extraction of sand, mainly through an open pit (or sand pit) but sometimes mined from beaches and inland dunes or dredged from ocean and river beds. Sand is often used in manufacturing, for example as an abrasive or in concrete

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rangeo t1_ixab7j3 wrote

I read somewhere Haiti's earthquakes are caused in part by the amount if sand it exports.

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DeNoodle t1_ixagdsn wrote

This sounds highly dubious, but I'm no geologist or seismologist.

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cdnchronics t1_ixbws3b wrote

FYI Manufactured sand or manufactured fine aggregate (MFA) is produced by reducing larger pieces of aggregate into sand-sized aggregate particles. Manufactured sands tend to be used in mixtures in areas where natural sand is not available or not cost effective to be hauled to the needed location

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tayt087x t1_ixcij91 wrote

Planet money?

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