SILICA (SiO2) USES Silica (SiO2) is found in hundreds of products and industries, from simple sand to Space Shuttle heat shield tiles. The Company has vast deposits of raw silica ore of top grade hardness and purity, suitable for uses which have the most stringent requirements. The Company’s silica deposit is unique in that it is nearly 100% pure, it is extremely hard quartz, it is so easily available, and it is so large. Initial production will fund entry into a series of increasingly higher-margin silica–based products. Products range, for example, in order from simplest/cheapest to more complex/expensive: Decorative silica stone and roadbed base rock Fractioning sand (“frac sand”) – Frac sand slurry is used to fracture subterranean rock in oil and natural gas wells to revive production Fumed silica Optical fiber cable Silica aerogels, selling for $6,500 USD per ounce Silicon is a silica alloy used in the making of computer chips and solar panels. Uses of silica include: production of window glass, drinking glasses and beverage bottles optical fibers for telecommunications analytical instruments - UV spectrophotometer cells, military fire control devices, reticle substrates, interferometer plates a primary raw material for many whiteware ceramics such as earthenware, stoneware and porcelain, as well as industrial Portland cement an additive in the production of foods, pharmaceuticals and health supplements, where it is used primarily as a smoothing agent (think Peanut Butter) and as a flow agent in powdered products and in pill manufacture More uses of silica include: to absorb water in hygroscopic applications the primary component of diatomaceous earth, which has many uses ranging from filtration to insect control the primary component of rice husk ash which is used in filtration and cement manufacturing thin films of silica grown on silicon wafers via thermal oxidation methods, where it can be quite beneficial in microelectronics, acting as an electric insulator with high chemical stability in electrical applications, it can protect the silicon, store charge, block current, and even act as a controlled pathway to limit current flow Further uses of silica: as a raw material for aerogel in the Stardust spacecraft in the extraction of DNA and RNA due to its ability to bind to the nucleic acids under the presence of chaotropes as a defoamer component in toothpaste as a refractory in fiber form as a hightemperature thermal protection fabric More uses of silica: in cosmetics, it is useful for its lightdiffusing properties and natural absorbency. colloidal silica is used as a wine and juice fining agent.