SplendidSands
Exploring the Science and Beauty of Sand
Industrial Heritage Sand
Champion Stamp Mill Ruins, Freda, MI
Leo Kenney
Remnants of industry and civilizations are often found as grains in sands. Coal chunks from power plants, paint chips from road paint, brick fragments from old chimneys, rusted steel shot from sandblasting sites, and colorful glass fragments. Other sands contain the waste material from mines or slag from ore smelting operations. Magnification reveals these grains.
Slag from historic cobalt, lead, zinc, copper and iron mining Bode River, Sachsen Anhalt, Germany
Polished slag from closed iron mine Lac Jeannine mine, Gagnon, Quebec, Canada
Marble quarry waste Marble Beach, Thassos Island, Greece
Beach polished asbestos tailings Plage D'albo, Corsica, France
Coal and slag from power plant Lake Superior Ashland, Wisconsin
White, yellow paint, reflective beads from road runoff. Acushnet River, Mattapoisett, Massachusetts
Glass fragments from historic ocean dumping of city waste. Ele'ele, Kauai, Hawaii
Slag, coal, and brick remnants from historic powder mill. Brandywine River, Eagle Rollings Mills, Wilmington, Delaware
Stamp mill copper mine waste dumped in Lake Superior North Canal Township Park, Houghton, Michigan
Glass fragments from glass production Zejdlik Brook, Ustecky, Czech Republic
Sand blasting shot, charcoal, and slag dredged from River. 35W Bridge, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Copper smelter slag on Houghton Canal Houghton, Michigan
Slag from historic pig iron furnace Sloss Furnaces Natl. Hist. Landmark, Birmingham, AL
Sand encrusted black oil blob from Black Sea drill platform.
Waste from world's oldest copper mines.
Industrial slag debris.