Atlas of Waste
Atlas of Waste
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INFONAME:Sand and gravel washing residue
CATEGORYCATEGORY:Mine and quarry wastes
RADIO_BUTTON_UNCHECKEDSECTOR:Construction minerals
VOLCANOUK TOTAL:2,357,100 tonnes (data)
FLAGSITES:701
MAPREGION:National
WidgetsTYPE:Screening residue
LabelDESCRIPTION:Undersize, fines fraction from screening of sand and gravel aggregates
SCIENCECOMPOSITION:
SiO274.8%K2O1.1%
Al2O34.5%Na2O0.5%
CaO5.9%Fe2O34.3%
MgO0.7%TiO20.3%
  LOI0.7%

Mean from 9 samples (Mitchell et al. 2001)

TENANCYMINEROLOGY:Quartz, calcite, feldspar (Mitchell et al. 2001)
StreamAPPEARANCE:Sediment / sludge / filtercake
LINEAR_SCALEPARTICLE SIZE:<0.063mm
WYSIWYGNOTES: 

Sand and gravel are typically excavated along with fines material (<0.063mm) which is subsequently screened and separated.

The proportion of fines and their composition depend on the nature and location of the deposit, but analysis of residues across a range of sites in the UK (Mitchell et al. 2001) show them to be primarily quartz-rich, often alongside calcite, feldspar and other minerals in trace amounts.

Some deposits, especially glaciofluvial sands and gravel deposits are likely to contain clay minerals.

Waste from screening operations is typically deposited at or very close to the original point of extraction.

VisibilityFURTHER READING:(BGS, 2019)
(Mitchell et al. 2001)
(Manning and Vetterlein, 2004)