Garnet has been used as a gemstone since the Bronze Age. However, garnet's angular fractures, relatively high hardness and specific gravity, chemical inertness and nontoxicity make it ideal for many industrial applications. It is also free of crystalline silica and can be recycled. Garnet is the general name given to a group of complex silicate minerals, all with an isometric crystal structure and similar properties and chemical compositions. Higher quality industrial garnet is used as a loose grain abrasive because of its hardness. Lower quality industrial garnet is used as a filtration medium because it is relatively inert and resists chemical degradation. Garnet is also beginning to be used as an oil and gas reservoir fracturing proppant or mixed with other proppants when high temperature effects are encountered or in very deep formations.
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