Building a Quartz Crushing Plant: What Equipment Do You Need?

Building a plant to crush quartz is a big job. Quartz is a very hard rock. It needs special machines. It also needs careful planning. This article will help you understand what equipment you need. Next will explain why certain machines work best, talk about wear and costs and help you plan your quartz crushing plant. ZONEDING MACHINE builds these kinds of machines has done it since 2004 and offers a wide range of equipment designed for tough materials like quartz.

Last Updated: March 2025 | Estimated Reading Time: 25 Minutes

This Article Will Answer:

• What is quartz and its key features?
• What are main uses for crushed quartz sand?
• Why does equipment wear out fast crushing quartz?
• Which specific equipment is best for crushing quartz?
• What steps are in a typical quartz crushing process?
• How do you make very pure and well-shaped quartz sand?
• How can you lower quartz crushing wear besides choosing machines?
• Is a fixed plant or a mobile plant better for flexibility?
• What is the approximate cost to invest in a plant?
• Are the daily operating costs for crushing high?

What Is Quartz And Its Key Features?

You might see quartz in rocks everywhere. It is a very common mineral. Quartz is a natural material made from silicon and oxygen atoms.

Here are the main features of quartz for processing:

• Chemical Composition: Made of Silicon Dioxide (SiO₂). Its chemical name is silicon dioxide, also written this as SiO₂. It forms crystals. Sometimes the crystals are big and clear. Sometimes they are tiny and mixed in rocks. Quartz that is mined for processing is usually in large rock bodies. It might look white, gray, or even colored if impurities are present. Pure quartz is clear.
• Hardness: Level 7 on the Mohs scale. This is hard.Quartz has a high rank on the hardness scale. This scale is called the Mohs hardness scale. Quartz is level 7 on this scale. This is important. It means it is harder than many other rocks and minerals people crush. For example, limestone is much softer.
• Abrasiveness: It wears down metal parts easily. Quartz is also harder than the steel used in many machine parts. This hardness makes quartz useful for many things. But it also makes it difficult to crush. It scratches and wears down surfaces it touches very easily.
• Fracture: Breaks into sharp, uneven pieces. Quartz also breaks in a specific way. It does not split along flat lines like some minerals, such as mica. It breaks into pieces with sharp, uneven edges. These sharp edges make the material very abrasive. This abrasion causes wear on machines. This is a big issue when processing quartz rock in a quartz crushing plant.
• Purity Levels: Can be very pure or have other minerals mixed in. Some quartz deposits are very pure. They have almost only SiO₂. Other deposits have other minerals mixed in. These impurities can be iron, clay, mica, or feldspar. The amount and type of impurities change how to process the quartz. Might need extra steps to remove these impurities.

These features tell us that crushing quartz needs strong machines. They also need parts that resist wear. Might need cleaning steps for higher purity.

What Are Main Uses For Crushed Quartz Sand?

After crushing quartz rock, it becomes small pieces. People often call these small pieces quartz sand or silica sand. This sand is not just used for building homes or roads. Crushed quartz sand is used in many different industries for many important purposes. What people use the crushed quartz for depends on its size. It also depends on how pure it is. The shape of the tiny pieces matters too for some uses.

• One major use for crushed quartz sand is making glass. Think about glass bottles or window panes. They are made mostly from silica sand. For this, the sand must be very pure. It needs to have very, very little iron. Iron can make glass look green. So, if your quartz has iron, you need special machines to remove it before you use it for glass.
• Crushed quartz sand is also used to make molds for casting metal parts. This is done in foundries. People pour hot metal into these molds to make shapes. For foundry sand, the shape of the sand particles is important. They should be round or cubic (like small cubes). These shapes help the sand pack together tightly. This helps the mold hold its shape when the hot metal goes in.
• Construction is another big user. Crushed quartz sand is used as a filler material. It goes into concrete and asphalt for roads and buildings. It makes them stronger. It is also used in special cements and grouts.
• Some crushed quartz sand is used for filtering water. For example, it is used in water treatment plants. Here, the size and shape of the sand grains affect how well it filters dirt from the water.
• Quartz sand is also used to make ceramics. These are things like tiles or pottery. It is also used to make things that can stand very high heat. These are called refractories.
• Less common uses include making silicon metal for electronics. It is also used in some chemical reactions.

Here is a table showing some main uses and what quality is needed:

Main Use Area	What it’s used for	Key Quality Needed
Glass Manufacturing	Bottles, windows, fiberglass	Very high purity (low iron)
Foundry (Metal Casting)	Molds for metal parts	Good particle shape (cubic)
Construction	Concrete, asphalt, mortar	Specific size ranges
Water Filtration	Cleaning drinking water, wastewater	Specific size and shape
Ceramics/Refractories	Tiles, pottery, high-temp materials	Specific size, purity
Specialty Uses	Electronics, chemicals, abrasives	Very high purity, specific size/shape

The wide range of uses for crushed quartz means needing different equipment and processes to get the right size, shape, and purity for each customer’s need. Equipment for crushing, shaping, washing (Sand Washing Machine), or separating impurities (Magnetic Separator, flotation) are needed.

Why Does Equipment Wear Out Easily When Crushing Quartz?

Quartz is one of the hardest common minerals on Earth.

• Quartz is very hard.It ranks 7 on the Mohs hardness scale. This is harder than many other rocks that processing regularly, like limestone or sandstone. These softer rocks do not cause as much wear.
• It has high silica content. Quartz rock also has a very high amount of silica, SiO₂. This silica content makes it very abrasive. Abrasive means it grinds away the surfaces it rubs against.
• When quartz rock moves through a crushing machine, it rubs and hits the metal parts inside the crusher chamber. This constant rubbing and hitting action causes the metal parts to wear down very quickly.

The high hardness and high silica content of quartz are the main reasons crushing equipment wears out very fast when processing this rock. This wear is much faster compared to crushing softer materials.

This fast wear is a significant problem for people who own and operate a quartz crushing plant. Parts inside the crushers, like the plates that squeeze the rock (jaw plates, cone liners) or the parts that hit the rock (impact plates, rotor tips), wear out fast. Grinding media inside mills, if you need finer powder, also wears quickly. This means you must stop the machines often. You stop them to check how worn the parts are. Then you stop them to change the worn-out parts. This takes a lot of time. Stopping the machines stops your production. This lost production means lost money. It also costs a lot of money just to buy the new wear parts. Many companies find that the cost of wear parts is one of their biggest operating expenses when crushing quartz. They may not have planned enough for how hard and abrasive quartz truly is. From ZONEDING’s long experience, knowing that wear is a main challenge in any quartz processing operation. The direct results of this fast wear are increased production stops and high costs for replacement parts.

To fight this rapid wear, using special materials for the machine parts that touch the rock is necessary. ZONEDING always recommends using high wear-resistant materials for these parts. For example, the plates and liners inside crushers should be made from strong, special steel alloys. High manganese steel is a common choice. Chrome alloy steel is also used. Parts in certain crushers, like VSI crushers, that hit the rock at high speed, can use composite materials with very hard inserts like tungsten carbide. Also, choosing crushers that break rock by squeezing it slowly between surfaces (like jaw or cone crushers) can sometimes cause less wear than machines that hit the rock very hard (some impact crushers), especially in the first crushing stages. Crushers that use “layer pressure,” like a Cone Crusher, crush rock particles against each other more inside the chamber. This protects the metal liners. You also need to keep many spare wear parts in stock at your plant site. This lets you change parts quickly as soon as they are too worn. This reduces the time your plant is stopped.

Which Specific Equipment Is Best For Crushing Quartz?

Picking the right crushing machines is very important for successfully processing hard quartz. High-quality machines that are strong enough to break this very hard rock is needed. Also needing machines that can handle the high wear rate caused by quartz. The best machine to use depends on the stage of crushing and the size of the rock you are feeding into it. Break down large rocks into smaller sizes step by step. This is called multi-stage crushing. Using the right type of crusher at each step of the process makes the entire quartz crushing plant work more efficiently. It also helps to manage and reduce the impact of wear.

Choosing the right combination of these machines in the correct sequence is what makes your plant effective.

Process Flow

• Primary Crushing:Jaw Crusher
• Secondary/Tertiary Crushing:Cone Crusher
• Shaping (for Cubic Sand): VSI Crusher (Sand Making Machine)
• Feeding:Vibrating Feeder
• Screening/Sizing:Vibrating Screens
• Transport: Conveyor Belts
• For High Purity (Optional):Magnetic Separator, Flotation Machine, Sand Washing Machine

What Steps Are In a Typical Quartz Crushing Process?

Designing a good process flow is like creating a map for your plant. It shows the path the raw rock takes as it is processed into finished products. For a quartz crushing plant, Using a series of steps. This is called multi-stage crushing and screening. Using multiple stages helps break down the very hard quartz rock slowly and efficiently. It also helps you control the size and shape of the final products. A typical quartz crushing process involves multiple stages of crushing combined with screening after each stage. This creates a continuous flow from large rocks to finished sand.

Here are the main steps in a typical process flow:

• Feeding the Raw Material: Large raw quartz rocks from the mine are brought to the plant site. They are usually placed in a large pile or hopper. A machine like a Vibrating Feeder pulls the rock from the hopper. It feeds the rock at a steady, controlled rate onto a conveyor belt or directly into the first crusher. Steady feeding is important for machine efficiency and wear management.
• Primary Crushing: The raw rock from the feeder goes into the primary crusher, which is usually a Jaw Crusher. The jaw crusher breaks the largest rocks into smaller pieces, typically reducing them to a size that can enter the next crusher. The output size from the jaw crusher is still relatively large, maybe 10-20 cm or smaller depending on the jaw setting.
• Primary Screening: After primary crushing, the material is transported, often by conveyor belt, to a vibrating screen. This vibrating screen has mesh openings of a specific size. Material that is already small enough to pass through the screen openings moves on to the next stage (like secondary crushing or stockpiling if it meets a product size). Material that is still too large stays on top of the screen. This oversized material is then sent back to the primary crusher or diverted to the secondary crusher.
• Secondary Crushing (Closed Circuit): The rock that was too large from the primary screen goes to a secondary crusher. For quartz, this is typically a Cone Crusher. The cone crusher breaks these medium-sized rocks down further. The crushed material from the cone crusher is then usually sent back to the same vibrating screen from Step 3. This is called operating in a “closed circuit.” Using a closed circuit with screening helps to control the final particle size very precisely. The screen acts like a quality control check. It keeps sending any material that is still too large back to the cone crusher for more crushing until it finally passes through the screen. This also stops the crusher from making the rock too small (over-crushing), which wastes energy and causes unnecessary wear.
• Tertiary Crushing / Shaping (Optional Closed Circuit): If your final product needs to be very fine sand, or if you need sand with a very specific cubic shape (as discussed in the uses section), the material that passed through the secondary screen goes to a tertiary crusher. This might be another cone crusher set to a smaller gap, or it might be a VSI Crusher (Sand Making Machine) specifically for shaping. This stage can also be in a closed circuit with another vibrating screen. This screen checks the final product size and shape and sends any particles that don’t meet the requirement back to the tertiary crusher for another pass.
• Final Screening and Stockpiling: The material that has passed through all the crushing and screening stages is the finished product. It goes to the final set of vibrating screens. These screens separate the product into different size categories based on what your customers need (e.g., coarse sand, fine sand). Each finished product size is then transported by conveyor belts to a storage area, either a stockpile on the ground or a storage bin.

Using multiple crushing stages means that each crusher is working on a specific range of rock sizes. This makes each machine work more efficiently. Using closed circuits with screens ensures you consistently produce the exact sizes you need for your final products. This multi-stage crushing and screening approach, often in closed circuits, is fundamental for achieving high efficiency, controlling product size, and getting good product quality in a quartz crushing plant. ZONEDING engineers specialize in designing this specific process flow based on your raw quartz rock’s properties and the exact final products you want to make.

How Do You Make High-purity And Well-shaped Quartz Sand?

Making high-quality quartz sand for demanding uses, like making glass or special concrete, means more than just crushing the rock to the right size. The sand must also be very pure (have very little unwanted material). And the tiny sand pieces must have the right shape, usually cubic. Crushing and screening are the first steps. They break the rock and sort it by size. But to get very pure and well-shaped sand, you often need extra steps after the crushing circuit. To ensure you produce pure and well-shaped quartz sand, you need to use special equipment and process steps that go beyond basic crushing and screening. This often involves cleaning the sand and improving the shape of the particles.

First, focus on purity. Quartz rock, even high-grade quartz, can have other minerals mixed in. These can be minerals containing iron, clay, mica, feldspar, or others. For many uses, especially glass making, these impurities must be removed. Removing impurities is a critical step for producing high-purity quartz sand. Basic crushing and screening might separate some larger pieces of waste rock if they break differently from the quartz. But often, the impurities are small particles mixed with the sand, or they might be attached to the quartz grains. You need more advanced cleaning methods to get rid of them.

Here are common methods for improving purity:

• Magnetic Separation: This is very often used to remove iron. Iron minerals are magnetic. A magnetic separator uses strong magnets to pull out the magnetic iron particles as the quartz sand passes by, either on a belt or in a drum. Removing iron is essential for clear glass production.
• Washing and Desliming: Water is used to wash the sand. This removes fine clay, silt, and other dirt particles that might coat the quartz grains. A Sand Washing Machine or equipment like hydrocyclones (Hydrocyclones) are used for this. This step also helps remove very fine waste particles.
• Flotation: For removing non-magnetic impurities like mica, feldspar, or other silicate minerals, flotation can be very effective. Flotation uses special chemicals added to a water mixture with the sand. Air bubbles are blown into the mixture using Flotation Machines. The chemicals make the unwanted impurity particles stick to the air bubbles. The bubbles float to the surface, carrying the impurities, which are then collected and removed. The clean quartz sand sinks to the bottom.

Now, talk about particle shape. For many applications, like making concrete or special fillers, sand particles that are cubic (like little cubes) or rounded are preferred. These shapes pack together better than flat or long, splintery shapes. Crushers that squeeze rock, like jaw and cone crushers, can sometimes produce particles that are not perfectly shaped.

By adding these purification steps (magnetic separation, washing, possibly flotation) and a shaping step (VSI crusher) to your basic crushing and screening process, you can produce high-purity, well-shaped quartz sand. This type of sand is much more valuable and can be used in many more demanding applications compared to standard crushed rock sand. ZONEDING provides the necessary equipment for these advanced steps, including sand washing machines, magnetic separators, flotation machines, and VSI crushers designed for shaping hard materials.

What Else Lowers Quartz Crushing Wear Besides Choosing Machines?

Choosing the right equipment made with strong, wear-resistant materials is very important when you crush hard, abrasive quartz. This is your first line of defense against wear. But it is not the only thing you can do. How you operate and maintain your plant also makes a big difference. Good practices in operating and maintaining your quartz crushing plant can significantly help to reduce the wear on your equipment. This helps your wear parts last longer. This saves you money on replacement parts. It also helps keep your plant running more consistently without unexpected stops.

Here are key operational practices to lower wear:

• Even Feeding: Always feed the rock into the crusher using a proper feeder, like a vibrating feeder. It sends a steady, even stream of rock. Avoid overloading crushers. Putting too much rock in at once forces the machine to work much harder. It creates excessive pressure and rubbing inside. This causes liners and other parts to wear out much faster than they should. Feeding the crusher at a consistent, recommended rate is better for the machine and reduces wear.
• Optimal Process Flow: Using a multi-stage crushing process is important. As discussed, this means breaking down the rock in steps with different crushers. This makes sure each crusher works on the rock size it is designed for. Using closed circuits with screens is also key. The screens remove material that is already small enough. This prevents it from going back into the crusher. This stops the crusher from wasting energy and causing unnecessary wear by crushing material that is already fine.
• Regular Checks: Wear parts like liners, plates, and tips need to be checked often. Check wear parts regularly. Don’t wait until they are completely worn out or break during operation. Breakdowns cause damage to other parts of the machine and lead to long, unplanned stops.
• Timely Replacement: Change wear parts when they reach a certain level of wear, as recommended by the manufacturer. Replace worn parts before they cause problems. Replacing a part just in time prevents more costly damage to the main structure of the crusher.
• Stocking Spares: Keep a good supply of common wear parts at your plant site. Always keep a good inventory of spare wear parts. This lets you quickly replace a worn part as soon as you find it during your checks. This reduces the amount of time your plant is stopped.
• Proper Maintenance: Machines need regular service, lubrication, and adjustments. Maintain machines regularly. Follow the lubrication schedule provided by the manufacturer. Proper lubrication reduces friction and wear on bearings and moving parts.
• Correct Settings: Operate the crushers and screens at the settings recommended for the rock size and desired product size. Make sure the gap settings on crushers are correct. Running machines outside their recommended settings can increase wear.
• Even Wear: Sometimes, you can rotate or adjust liners inside the crusher periodically. This helps the wear happen more evenly across the part’s surface. This can help the part last longer before it needs to be replaced.

So, reducing wear is not just about buying expensive, durable machines. It is also very much about how you operate and take care of those machines every day. Implementing these good operational practices, combined with using equipment built tough for hard rock like ZONEDING machinery, will significantly lower the wear rate in your quartz crushing plant. This directly impacts your operating costs and plant uptime.

Actual Case Note: One customer crushing highly abrasive quartz saw wear life increase by 15% simply by optimizing their feeder to provide a choke feed (full crushing chamber) in their cone crusher and implementing a stricter schedule for checking and rotating manganese steel liners. This small change saved them thousands per month in wear parts.

Is A Fixed Plant Or A Mobile Plant More Suitable?

When you are planning your quartz crushing plant, one big decision is whether to build a plant that stays in one place forever (this is called a fixed plant) or to use equipment that can move from one location to another (this is called a mobile plant). Both types of plants have their advantages, but they are designed for different kinds of projects and situations. In terms of being able to change location or move around, a mobile quartz crushing plant offers much greater flexibility compared to a fixed plant.

Let’s look at the differences:

• Fixed Plant:
  • Built on strong, permanent concrete foundations.
  • Designed to process a large amount of rock continuously for many years in the exact same spot.
  • Usually built very close to the source of the rock (the quarry or mine).
  • Moving a fixed plant is extremely difficult and very expensive. It involves taking apart large structures and machines and rebuilding them somewhere else. This takes a long time, usually many months.
  • Can typically achieve very high production rates.
  • Can have very complex processing flows with many different machines connected together permanently.
  • The initial cost for preparing the site and building the plant structure is often high.
• Mobile Plant:
  • The crushing, screening, and conveying machines are installed on wheeled chassis or crawler tracks. These are called Mobile Crusher Plants. You can have a Mobile Jaw Crusher, Mobile Cone Crusher, etc.
  • Can move easily from one location to another within a site or even travel between different project sites. They can often drive directly to where the rock is mined in the quarry.
  • This ability to move saves money on transporting the raw rock from the quarry face to the crusher. You use fewer trucks and less fuel.
  • Setting up a mobile plant is much faster than building a fixed plant. You do not need heavy, permanent concrete foundations. You only need a prepared, flat area.
  • The main advantage is its high flexibility. You can move the plant within a large quarry as the mining area changes over time. You can move the entire plant to a different site if you finish one job or start a new one far away. This is very useful if you work on multiple mining or construction projects in different locations, or if your rock deposit is spread out over a large area.
  • While a single mobile unit might not match the highest possible capacity of the largest fixed plants, you can use several mobile units together (Mobile Crusher Plant) to create a multi-stage crushing system that achieves high production rates.

For crushing hard quartz, mobile units are built very strong, just like fixed machines. Our tracked mobile crushers are designed to handle hard rock. So, if the ability to easily move your crushing operation is important for your business plan, a mobile plant is clearly the more flexible choice. You should choose a mobile plant if your projects are temporary, if you work at multiple sites, or if you need to follow the rock face within a large quarry. You should choose a fixed plant for very long-term, high-volume production that will always happen in the same location. ZONEDING offers both types of crushing solutions designed for hard rock, including various mobile jaw crushers, mobile cone crushers, mobile screens, and complete multi-stage mobile crushing and screening plant setups.

What Is The Approximate Cost To Invest In A Plant?

Giving an exact number is very difficult without knowing all the specific details of your project. The total cost will be different for every plant because each project has unique requirements. The approximate initial investment cost for a quartz crushing plant depends heavily on its planned production size, the complexity of the required processing steps, and the specific type and quality of machines you choose. These are the main factors that cause the cost to change a lot from one project to the next.

Here are the main factors that affect the total investment cost:

• Plant Capacity: This is the amount of rock the plant will process per hour (e.g., 100 tons per hour, 300 tons per hour, 500 tons per hour, or more). A plant designed to crush more tons per hour needs larger machines or more machines working together. Bigger machines cost more money. So, higher capacity means higher investment.
• Process Complexity: A simple plant that just crushes large rocks into smaller ones of one size will cost less. A plant that needs to crush, shape the sand particles, wash the sand to remove clay, and use magnetic separation to remove iron will cost more. More steps mean you need more different types of machines and more conveyors to connect them.
• Equipment Type and Quality: Machines specifically built for hard rock like quartz, using high wear-resistant materials and strong construction, might have a higher purchase price than standard machines for softer rock. However, investing in good quality, durable equipment can save you money in the long run on wear parts and reduce costly downtime.
• Fixed vs. Mobile Plant: A fixed plant requires significant investment in site preparation and building permanent concrete foundations and steel structures to hold the equipment. This adds a lot to the civil works cost. A mobile plant requires less site preparation and minimal or no permanent foundations. The purchase price of mobile units (Mobile Crusher Plant) can sometimes be higher per ton of capacity than fixed machines, but the overall project cost might be lower because you save on the large civil work and building costs.
• Location and Construction: The location of your plant affects costs. Building in a remote area or a place with difficult ground conditions can increase costs for transporting equipment and materials. Labor costs for construction also vary by location.
• Automation Level: Adding advanced automatic control systems and sensors to the plant increases the initial investment cost. However, automation can lead to lower labor costs and improved efficiency over the life of the plant.

The total initial investment includes several components. It includes

• Equipment purchase cost (crushers, screens, feeders, conveyors, etc.)：The cost of buying the main crushing equipment (like jaw crushers, cone crushers, VSI crushers) and the screening machines, vibrating feeders, conveyor belts, and any optional equipment like washing machines or separators.
• Plant design and engineering fees：It also includes the cost of designing the plant layout and engineering drawings.
• Site preparation and civil works (foundations, structures for fixed plant)：Then there is the cost of preparing the site and building any necessary foundations, steel structures, or buildings (for fixed plants).
• Installation and commissioning costs：Putting all the machines together (installation),
• Electrical system and control system costs: Setting up the electrical system, control system, and potentially water pipelines also adds to the cost.
• Initial spare parts inventory (especially wear parts): Finally, you should include the cost of buying an initial stock of spare parts, especially the wear parts that you will need to change often for crushing quartz.
• Transport and logistics costs

For a smaller, relatively basic fixed quartz crushing line (perhaps processing 100-150 tons per hour), the cost for just the main equipment might range from several hundred thousand US dollars to over a million US dollars, depending on the specific models and quality. Adding the costs for engineering, site preparation, civil works, installation, and initial spares could easily double that or make it even higher. A larger, high-capacity plant with a complex process involving washing, shaping, and impurity removal could easily require an investment of several million US dollars or much more. Mobile plants have a different cost structure; the mobile units themselves are the main purchase cost, potentially starting from $300,000 – $500,000 for a single basic unit, and going up to multiple millions for a complete multi-stage mobile crushing and screening system designed for high capacity.

To get a real, accurate estimate for your specific project, the best step is to work with a reputable manufacturer to develop a detailed plant design and get a precise quotation. ZONEDING recommends starting with a feasibility study. This study analyzes your specific quartz rock characteristics, your desired final products, and your production goals. Based on this, our engineers can design the most suitable process flow and select the correct machines and sizes. Then ZONEDING can provide you with a much more accurate and reliable estimate of the total investment cost. As a manufacturer, ZONEDING offers competitive, factory-direct pricing on our equipment. ZONEDING can also provide engineering support and guidance for installation to help you manage the overall project cost.

Are The Daily Operating Costs High For A Quartz Crushing Plant?

Once your quartz crushing plant is built and running, you will have ongoing costs to operate it every day, every month, and every year. These are called operating costs, or OPEX. For a plant that crushes quartz, these ongoing costs can be quite high, primarily because quartz is so hard and abrasive. This characteristic impacts several key cost areas. Yes, the daily operating costs for a quartz crushing plant are typically high, with the most significant expenses coming from wear parts and energy consumption. These two areas are heavily influenced by the nature of quartz rock.

Let’s look closer at the main components of operating costs:

• Wear Parts: This is usually the largest single operating cost item when crushing quartz. As discussed earlier (in the section “Why does equipment wear out fast”), quartz wears down the metal parts of your crushers and screens very quickly. You must regularly buy and replace liners, plates, tips, and other wear parts inside the machines. The cost of these replacement parts adds up significantly over time. This cost is much higher for crushing hard, abrasive quartz than for processing softer rocks.
• Energy (Electricity or Fuel): Crushing and grinding hard rock like quartz requires a lot of power. The large electric motors that drive crushers, Ball Mills or Rod Mills (if you need to grind the quartz into a very fine powder), screens, and conveyors consume a large amount of electricity. If you use diesel-powered mobile crushers, fuel costs are significant. Energy costs are a major part of the daily expense of running the plant.
• Labor: You need a team of people to operate the machines, monitor the process flow, perform routine maintenance, make adjustments, and manage the overall plant. The number of workers needed and their wages contribute to the labor cost.
• Maintenance and Repairs: Even with good preventive maintenance, machines can still need repairs or unexpected breakdowns can occur. Repairing damaged machines costs money for parts and labor. Breakdowns also stop production, which means lost revenue.
• Consumables: This includes items that are used up during the process. Lubricants and grease for the machines are consumables. If you use flotation for purity, the chemicals needed are a significant daily cost. If you use Ball Mills or Rod Mills, the steel balls or rods used to grind the material are also a major consumable expense.

Here is a breakdown of typical high operating cost areas for quartz:

• Wear Parts: Liners, plates, tips, screen mesh, grinding media. (Highest cost)
• Energy: Electricity for motors, fuel for mobile units. (Second highest cost)
• Labor: Operators, maintenance staff, supervisors.
• Maintenance: Routine servicing, unexpected repairs.
• Consumables: Lubricants, chemicals (for flotation), grinding media.

To help keep these operating costs lower, especially the high ones, you should focus on certain strategies:

• Effective Wear Management: As discussed in the wear section, this is crucial. Use wear-resistant materials, follow good operating practices (even feeding, no overloading), implement a strong maintenance schedule, and replace wear parts on time.
• Energy Efficiency: Choose energy-efficient machines where possible. Optimize the process flow to ensure machines run at their most efficient point. If grinding is needed, control the milling process carefully using classifiers like Hydrocyclones to avoid over-grinding material that is already fine enough, which wastes energy.
• Consumable Optimization: Use chemicals and grinding media efficiently according to best practices.
• Increase Automation: While adding to the upfront investment cost, automation systems can potentially reduce the number of operators needed, thereby lowering long-term labor costs. Automation can also help optimize machine settings to reduce energy consumption and wear.

Understanding these different costs helps you plan and budget properly for running your plant. The high wear caused by the hard quartz is the biggest challenge to keeping operating costs low. Effectively managing wear through equipment selection and operational practices can save a significant amount of money over the life of the plant and improve your profitability.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Question 1: Is quartz harder to crush than granite?
  • Yes, quartz is typically harder and more abrasive than most granite types. Granite is a rock made of several minerals, including some quartz, but pure quartz itself ranks higher on the Mohs scale and causes more wear on crushing machines than the other minerals found in granite.
• Question 2: Do I need a special sand making machine for quartz sand?
  • Yes, if your final product needs to be quartz sand with a good cubic particle shape for uses like high-quality concrete, glass making, or foundry sand, then using a VSI Crusher (often called a Sand Making Machine) as the final crushing stage is highly recommended after the initial crushing steps. It is designed to improve particle shape through impact.
• Question 3: How often do I need to change wear parts when crushing quartz?
  • The exact frequency depends on several factors: the specific abrasiveness of your quartz rock, the production capacity of your plant, the type of equipment used, and the material quality of the wear parts. For key wear parts like VSI rotor tips or crusher liners, it can range from days to weeks of operation. Regular checks and monitoring wear are essential to determine the optimal replacement schedule for your specific situation.
• Question 4: Can ZONEDING provide all the equipment needed for a complete quartz plant?
  • Yes, ZONEDING MACHINE is a comprehensive manufacturer. ZONEDING can provide a full range of equipment needed for a complete quartz processing plant, from primary crushing to final product handling and purification. This includes jaw crushers, cone crushers, VSI crushers (sand makers), vibrating screens, vibrating feeders, sand washing machines, magnetic separators, flotation machines, and conveyor systems. ZONEDING can also offer mobile crushing plants.
• Question 5: Is adding automation to a quartz crushing plant a good investment?
  • Yes, for many operations, automating a quartz plant is a good idea. Automation can improve plant efficiency and consistency by controlling machine settings automatically based on real-time data. It can also potentially reduce the number of operators needed, leading to lower labor costs over the long term. Automation helps manage the complex process of crushing, screening, and potentially purifying hard, abrasive quartz more effectively.

Summary and Suggestions

Building a quartz crushing plant is difficult. Quartz is very hard and abrasive. It wears out machines fast. This high wear is a big challenge. To succeed, you need specific equipment for hard rock. Use a Jaw Crusher first. Then use a Cone Crusher for smaller sizes. If you need cubic sand, add a VSI Crusher. Your plant process must have many crushing stages. Vibrating Screens are vital after each stage. This controls size. For very pure sand, add a Magnetic Separator. You might also need Sand Washing Machines or Flotation Machines. Equipment choice is only part of it. How you run the plant matters a lot. Use a Vibrating Feeder. Never overload crushers. Check wear parts often. Change worn parts quickly. Always have spare parts ready. Wear parts and energy cost the most daily. Managing wear lowers costs. Decide if a fixed or Mobile Crusher Plant is better for your needs. Start your plan by testing your quartz rock. Get expert help for designing the plant. ZONEDING MACHINE builds all the equipment for quartz crushing plants. ZONEDING has engineers to help you design your plant. ZONEDING can help you build a successful plant. Contact ZONEDING for help with your project.

About ZONEDING

ZONEDING MACHINE is a manufacturing company based in China. ZONEDING specialized in producing equipment for mineral processing and rock crushing, focusing on the B2B market. ZONEDING has been making mining and processing machinery since 2004. We have built extensive experience in crushing and processing hard and abrasive rocks such as quartz, granite, and basalt. We build the full range of machines required for a quartz crushing plant. This includes Jaw Crushers for primary breaking, Cone Crushers for secondary and tertiary crushing, VSI Crushers (Sand Making Machines) for shaping, Vibrating Screens for sizing, Vibrating Feeders for controlled feeding, Sand Washing Machines, Magnetic Separators, and Flotation Machines for purification, and conveyor systems. ZONEDING also manufactures various types of Mobile Crusher Plants. ZONEDING uses wear-resistant materials in our equipment design to help manage the high wear from quartz. ZONEDING can provide comprehensive support, from initial plant design and equipment manufacturing to guidance for installation, commissioning, and after-sales service. As a direct manufacturer, ZONEDING can offer competitive, factory-direct pricing. Our team includes professional engineers with deep knowledge in mineral processing and crushing technology. Our goal is to partner with you to build a successful, efficient, and profitable quartz processing operation. ZONEDING has delivered our equipment to over 120 countries globally.

If you are planning a quartz crushing plant project or need equipment for processing hard minerals, contact ZONEDING. ZONEDING can provide expert advice and a tailored solution for your specific needs.

Last Updated: March 2025