GMA Garnet vs Indian Garnet

GMA Garnet is a cost effective blasting abrasive which produces low levels of dust when blasting and attains an extremely clean blasted surface.

Commonly called ‘garnet media’ or ‘garnet sand’, Garnet Abrasive is fast becoming the preferred blasting media of many blasting contractors in North America. It is low dusting, fast blasting and has low consumption. As Garnet Abrasive has gained ground as a popular blasting media, other types of ‘Garnet’ have arrived on the scene, and if you are interested in purchasing Garnet, it is very important to understand the differences between ‘Garnet’ and ‘Garnet’.

People often talk oranges vs apples and that is definitely the case when talking about Garnet Abrasive. There are physical structural types of Garnet – Alluvial Garnet and Almandine Garnet.

• Alluvial Garnet is a mineral sand, and how you get it in the bag is how it was in the ground (all the impurities and other minerals removed obviously). Australian Garnet is in this category – it is low dust, is pink in color and has a ‘sub-angular’ shape which is perfect for blasting.
• Almandine Garnet is a rock type mineral, and has to be crushed to be a suitable size for use when Abrasive Blasting. Also known as ‘hard rock garnet’ the crushing process puts minute facture lines in all the Garnet particles which means it is very dusty when blasting, and does not recycle very well. North American Garnet, Mexican and Chinese Garnet is mostly Almandine Garnet.

Alluvial Garnet and is widely recognized as the better Garnet for Blasting. It is important to understand that there are two main sources of Alluvial Garnet in the world, these being Australia and India.

Indian Garnet from the Bay of Bengal

Indian Garnet is mined from a 50 mile beach deposit near Tuticoran on the Bay of Bengal.

The Indian Garnet miners depend on monsoonal rains to wash soluble salts from the Garnet. (The material is mined from a beach deposit, so it is high in soluble salts). Unfortunately it is very difficult to guarantee low salt levels in Indian Garnet as there is no controlled wash process or batch traceability. Indian Garnet can have high dust levels and uncontrolled amounts of organic matter in it.

Indian Garnet is also a younger Garnet Abrasive geologically and has only had one weathering process (the wave action), so it typically is dustier to blast with (the soft edges which haven’t been weathered off break off and create a dust cloud) and the younger softer grains break down easier, reducing the recyclability. Indian Garnet in general has these characteristics.

BlastOne does hold substantial inventory of Indian Garnet as it is a cheaper abrasive per pound/per ton, however we firmly believe that Premium Australian Garnet is not only the more efficient but is also more cost effective when considering the faster cleaning rates and reduced consumption rate.

Australian GMA Garnet from Western Australia

Australian Garnet is mined from an alluvial garnet deposit near Geraldton, Western Australia. Its geological age means that Australian Garnet has extremely low dust levels, and the advanced processing facility means the Garnet quality is more consistent with guaranteed low chlorides. Spring water washed to reduce soluble salts to less than 10 ppm, scrubbed to remove dust generating calcium deposits, roasted to burn out any organic matter and double screened to ensure perfect consistency.

Australian GMA Garnet is internationally recognized as a world-class premium blasting abrasive.
Here’s why you should use Premium Australian Garnet over any other type of Garnet available: