Mineral sands are important in the manufacture of industrial and chemicals applications. Australia is one of the world’s largest producers of mineral sands. But what exactly are they and how did mother nature create them all those years ago? Formation of mineral sands Most mineral sands began life as crystals in igneous or metamorphic rocks. Over time the rocks weathered and eroded the grains of quartz and minerals like rutile zircon, ilmenite and monazite were washed into the ocean by rainfall and streams. The minerals were carried on to the beach by the wave action. The wind blew away the lighter quartz sand leaving large deposits of mineral sands on the beach. As sea levels changed, shorelines move further inland sometimes many kilometres from what is now the shore. More sand has covered mineral sands deposits, so some have been found 50 metres below the surface. Belts of heavy minerals are called strand lines. It is thought that the mineral sands being mined today are ove