All language subtitles for T.W.T.S05E05.1080p.WEB.h264-CBFM_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
On Tomorrow's World Today,

we explore
the cutting-edge advances

that are shaping
four different worlds.

The world of inspiration,

where the wonders
of the natural world
amaze and inspire us.

The world of creation,

where ideas come to life
from traditional arts.

The world of innovation,

where ideas and inventions
move us all forward.

The world of production,

where innovations are
mass-produced to improve
our lives.

From Inventionland
world headquarters,

here's your host,
George Davison.

Hi, everyone.
I'm George Davison.

Do you ever wonder
how we actually get

what we get to make things?

Believe it or not,

they are really
only two choices.

You either grow it

or you mine it.

Look around the kitchen
in your house.

Whether it's your countertop
or the paint on the wall...

or even the glass
in your oven,

it all has to come
from somewhere.

In fact, almost everything
we depend on is made

using materials extracted
from the earth.

But once they're mined,

they have to be processed
in order for us to use them.

I've sent Greg
to a huge tunnel in Arkansas.

He's in the world
of production

where we're going to explore
how things like this

started off as rocks.

Silicon dioxide, or as it's
commonly known, silica,

is present in 95%
of the Earth's crust.

It is the second most abundant
material by weight on Earth.

And I am currently
surrounded by it.

I'm at the Guion plant
in Arkansas

where tons of silica is
extracted every day.

And it ends up
in more products

than you could
possibly think of.

It's in glass,
ceramics, countertops,

even water filtration systems.

But before it can
end up there,

it's gotta start out here.

And this...

is sandstone.

And this is nepheline syenite.

Now, these two minerals could
not be more different.

They're mined differently.

They're processed differently.

Let's explore
the world of silica,

then find out all
about nepheline syenite.

Hey, Danny.

-Morning.
-Hey.

So, we're looking
at a whole bunch of sand here,

but I know it doesn't
start out this way.

Take me through the process.

Well, it starts out
as sandstone.

Well, what happens next?

Next comes blasting.

Let's go see that.

[Greg] So, Danny, we made
it to the blast site.

Pretty excited to see
what goes here.
Tell me what's happening.

So, to get things started,
the blasters are taking

these cones out of each hole.

The cones are there to protect
the hole from collapsing,

from water or other rocks
from getting in

-and compromising the hole.
-Okay.

So, about how deep are
each of these holes?

Each hole here is
roughly 40 feet deep.

It ranges from 30 to 50
depending on where
we're blasting at the time.

Okay, well, what would help
you determine

whether you were gonna drill
down into the mountain
and blast this way

or drill into the mountain?

So, that depends primarily
on your mining method
and the cost

and the available equipment
at the time.

Here it made more sense
to remove the top
of the mountainside

and be able to access
the sand this way

and hence we're
drilling vertically.

The other method that we do
here is underground,

and at that time it was better
to simply face the mountain,

-and drill sideways.
-Gotcha.

All right. Well, it looks like
these guys are about ready
to get things going,

so we should probably
get out of here.

Yeah, we should.

Land ho!

[Greg laughing excitedly]

So, Danny, I mean,
right before this explosion,

we were basically standing
out there

and everything from this cone
on back just got blown off
of this wall.

-That's right.
It's the beauty of explosives.
-Wow.

What you're looking at is
about 20,000 tons of rock.

[Greg] And now it's gonna get
loaded into these trucks

and then taken off
to the crusher.
Are we gonna crush some rocks?

That's right. That's exactly
where we're going next.

-Let's go do it.
-Let's go.

So, Danny, we got to see
the trucks loaded up

with those big rocks
from the explosion

and then we just saw one come
and drop that load
into the hopper.

Now this looks to be
sort of a multi-stage
operation here.

Can you tell me
what's happening?

Yeah. So, this is
our crushing line

where there's
three separate crushers.

A jaw crusher
and two impactors.

And a jaw crusher will take
some of the bigger rock

that's about two feet
in diameter or so

and it's gonna break
that rock down

into about the size
of a softball.

From there, the first impactor
will take the sandstone
and break it down

-into the size
of about a golf ball.
-[Greg] Okay.

[Daniel] And from there
the third impactor

will then finish breaking
the sand down all the way.

And the end product is
really that sand,
those grains.

It's not the stages
along the way.

Exactly. We don't want dust.

We just wanna break
it down to the grains.

And you're right.
The customers,
they just want the sand

because as you said earlier,
it's used in a variety of ways

such as making
glass, shingles,

It's used
in equestrian arenas,

and it's even used
as play sand.

Wow. So, just about
any place you go

you're likely to find
a sandstone or silica product.

That's right.
You'll come across it
in your day-to-day life.

All right. Well, Danny,
this has been great.

I mean, you've taken me
through the whole process
with sandstone,

-but now I wanna find out
about nepheline syenite.
-That sounds great.

[Greg] I'm at
the nepheline syenite mine
in Peterborough, Canada

to get a deeper explanation
of what nepheline syenite is

and what it can be used for.

Hey, hey! You must be Alex.

Hey, Greg.

How are you?

-Good. Nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.

[Alex] Welcome to Covia's
nepheline syenite operation.

Well, this is really great.
So, thank you for having me.

Tell me more
about nepheline syenite.

So, nepheline syenite's
a hard rock.

It's very similar to granite.

It's also extremely useful
mainly due to its high purity
and bright white color.

Okay. So, now, I've seen
your mining operation
in Arkansas at Guion

and how they do
both underground mining

and they also do
quarry mining like this.

But it looks as though
all you guys do is pit mining.

So, is this all blasted out?

Tell me about how
we get these layers
and how that all works.

Yeah, so, this is a large
open pit mining operation
and it's a hard rock.

So, we get the rock
from the ground using
drilling and blasting.

So that helps create
these benches in the mine.

What you're looking
at right now is a loader

taking the rock that has
already been drilled and blast

and gonna move
that to a haul truck.

Well, how long have
you been mining here

and how long do you think
you'll mine here
into the future?

Yeah, great question.

So, we've been mining
at this site since the 1930s.

So, that's a very long time.

We also have a long future
of reserves ahead of us.

Great. And I know
that you guys have

a real eye towards the future
as far as sustainability goes

and we'll talk
about that a little bit later.

But what's gonna happen
with this rock now?

So, what you're seeing is rock
that's already been drilled
and blasted.

Now we're using
hydraulic loaders

to take that material
up to our processing plant.

That's the first step
of the process

to make the rock
from large big rocks
into small fine rocks.

I would really like
to see how that happens.

That's great, Greg.
Let's go see it.

-I'll follow you.
-Okay.

Well, Alex, I'm familiar
with the crushing operation

from what I learned
in your Arkansas facility.

But silica
and nepheline syenite are

very, very
different materials,

so I'm sure
your crushing operation
has to be different.

Yeah, you're right, Greg.

So, nepheline is very hard.

It's almost as hard
as a steel nail.

So, it all starts
with crushing.

Taking large rocks, making
them into very small rocks.

Very, very small rocks.

Okay. So, what's the next step
after they become
very, very small rocks?

So, once it's the size
of sugar or sand,

we run it over a magnet.

So, that helps remove
iron from the process.

Is there another step
to the process
after that iron extraction?

After we remove the iron,
we either sell it as sand

or we continue to process
it further into a finer
flour type product.

Can I get a look
at that finished product?

Sounds great. Let's go.

So, Greg, this is
basically how it looks

when it comes
out of the ground.

Okay. So, this is
the start of the whole thing.

I would like to see
some of the products
that are the end result.

Great. So, I have
some small bags, big bags,

some different grades of sand.

So, this is a big bag
of your product ready
to go off to where?

Well, we ship this product
all over the world.

And now as we look here
I see we have different grades
of nepheline in these bins.

Tell me what
I'm looking at here.

[Alex] Yeah. So, we've got
some coarser grain sand,

and then we move into some
of our finer products.

[Greg] Okay. What would
the sand be used for?

So, our sand's primarily used
in the glass industry.

It helps our customers lower
the melting point

and also adds hardness
to the glass.

Okay. So, I would imagine
lowering the melting point

that means
they're gonna use less fuel,
smaller carbon footprint.

That fits right in
with Covia's
sustainability mission.

Exactly.

Okay. Now we've gotten down
to the really fine stuff here
to the flour.

What are some of the products
that's used for?

So, our fine powders go
into ceramics, plastics
and paint.

So, plastics, it might even be
in the composite decking
that I have on my house.

You got it. It adds volume
and gives it strength, too.

Okay. Well, tell me
a little bit more
about the paint.

Chances are if you painted
the outside of your home
in the last 50 years,

you've used some nepheline
from this site right here
in Canada.

So that's what helps make
the paint as hard as a rock
on the outside of my house.

You got it. It also reduces
volatile organic compounds,

which have been proven
to be harmful to human health.

All right. Well, I'm heading
back to Fort Smith
'cause I understand

they're doing some
really amazing things
with silica.

So, I'm gonna go
check that out,

but you don't go anywhere

because I've got
some other stuff
I need to talk to you about.

Awesome. Sounds good, Greg.

[Greg] When it comes
to mining,

silica and nepheline syenite
are two materials that we use
to make almost everything.

Now that we've seen
the mining process,

it's time to explore
the finer details

of processing
the mine material.

I'm at the Fort Smith
processing plant in Arkansas
to do just that.

So, KT, I've seen now how

silica and nepheline syenite
are brought out of the ground,

the beginnings of the process,

how they end up
in so many different products.

But this is
a very specific process

that you folks do here
with the silica sand.

Can you tell me about that?

Absolutely. Here
at the Fort Smith facility,

we bring in the silica
in the railcars

and basically run it
through our thermal process.

-Can you show
me how that happens?
-Absolutely.

Lead the way.

All right, KT. So, we saw
the silica being offloaded
from the railcars

and onto those conveyor belts.

Does it come
right in here from that
conveyor belt system?

Absolutely, Greg.

So, right above us here is
our storage tank, our silo,

that feeds the shank takeaway

that actually sends
all the material
up the bucket elevator

and that's where we start
entering the kiln from here.

Okay. But this regulates
how fast that all happens?

Yes, sir. This controls
how much weight
we feed the kiln.

Okay, great. Well,
let's go take a look
at the kiln.

Let's go. Follow me.

So, KT, this is
the control room.

This is where the kiln is
actually operated from.

Absolutely, Greg. This is
where all the magic happens.

[Greg] Now,
it's nice and cool in here,

but outside there
it is really hot.

What's the kiln running at?

The kiln's currently running
at 1500 degrees Celsius.

About 2700 degrees Fahrenheit.

Wow. So, walk me
through the process

What happens to the sand
once it hits this stage?

Well, in the kiln,
the sand goes through
a number of phase changes.

The first being it goes
from alpha quartz,

transitions into beta quartz
and then tridymite

and then the final phase
before it becomes

a liquid or glass
is cristobalite.

How do you control
that process?

We control it
with the temperature.

Okay. But it never reaches
the liquid phase.

-[KT] No, sir.
-That would be the end of it.

[KT] That'll be the end of it.

Okay. What happens
to the sand after that point?

After that point,
the sand drops down
into the cooler

at about 1200 degrees Celsius,

and then it exits the cooler
at about 100 degrees Celsius.

Okay. And how do you use
the product from that point?

From that point we basically
screen off the sand,

and it either goes
into one of our products,

which is Luminex 14,
and gets bagged,

or we can send
it to the ball mill
for further processing.

I wanna see that ball mill.
Let's go check that out.

Let's go. Follow me.

So, KT, those screens
basically act
like big sifters.

-That is correct.
-And they sift the Luminex out

-and that's what falls down
in that process.
-That is correct.

What happens to it after that?

After that's done we can
either take that Luminex

and bag it into a super sack
and ship it out to a customer,

or we can send
it back down here

through that ball mill
that's behind you

and that mill behind you
basically pulverizes it

using those little
ceramic pebbles in there.

Okay. So, these are
inside that mill

and basically it acts like
a big rock tumbler,

-what we used to polish stones
when we were kids.
-Exactly.

-Okay.
-Yes.

All right. And what can
that product then be used for?

[KT] So, the final product
comes out as powder

-and that goes
into engineered stone.
-[Greg] Wow.

And that is to make
countertops, tiles, et cetera.

-It is super, super fine.
-Ultra-fine.

Now, is this bagged up
and sent out the same way?

Yeah, this can either be
bagged up into a super sack,

or loaded bulk into a truck
back to the customer.

All right. Well, I'm gonna
hang on to these

-and take these back
to Inventionland with me.
-Anytime.

KT, thank you very much.

-Have a great day, sir.
-You're welcome.
You have a good time.

Well, Alex, here we are
at one of your tailings ponds.

Now, I know that
most mining operations end
in a tailing pond of sorts,

and they can contain chemicals
from the process,

different foreign materials
can end up in there.

Sustainability is a big part
of the Covia mission.

What makes
your tailings pond different?

Yeah, so,
the big difference, Greg,

is there's no chemicals used
in our process,

so the same rock we take
out of the ground goes
back in it at the end.

So, there's nothing
introduced here

-that wasn't here before.
-[Alex] Correct.

Now what about this covering
that we're looking at,
this vegetation?

Did you have a hand
in that as well?

[Alex] So, we did.
So, we wanna make sure

that the tailings area's
well covered for two things.

One to keep dust down,

but it also creates
a great habitat
for local wildlife.

[Greg] And I know
that you have some neighbors
right nearby.

You're right near
cottage country.

How do they feel about having
Covia right next door?

Yeah, so, we do our best
to be as quiet as possible

so they can enjoy
their time at the lake.

And what else has happened
as far as the habitat goes?

Have you reintroduced
any species?

Yeah, so, we're really proud
of our turtle nesting survey
at NSO.

Over the past five years
we've been able to collect,
incubate and hatch

almost 700 turtles back
into the local environment.

That's excellent.
Well, Alex,

thank you very much.
I'm gonna head back
to Pittsburgh.

I know that the CEO of Covia
is heading to Inventionland
to meet up with George,

and I just need you
to show me out of here.

Awesome, Greg. Let's go.

Hey, Andrew.
Welcome to Inventionland.

Thanks, George.
I brought you a box of rocks.

Whoa! Jeez.

Well, that's quite an entry.

Yeah, it is.

-[George chuckling]
-These are some
of my favorite things.

All right. Let's talk about
some of your favorite things.

What's this one all about?

So, this is sandstone
that we mine in Arkansas.

It's crushed down into a sand

and used in all sorts
of applications

that you would know and use
in everyday life.

Hmm. Like, if I was
in a hardware store,

where would I see
something like that?

You'll find this material
in roofing shingles.

You'll find it in grouts,
in mortars,

in the backing of carpet.

You'll find it in windows.

Really there's a whole host
of different products
that we make out of this rock.

Wow. That's pretty impressive.

All right.
What about this rock?

-What's this one all about?
-Yeah, so, this is
a really, really cool rock.

This is called
nepheline syenite,

and we mine this in Canada.

And this is ground down
into a sand

and then ultimately
into a powder,

which is used as a filler
for paints and plastics.

When Greg came back

-he brought these goodies
with him.
-Mmm-hmm.

And I saw this one.

-That's right.
So, we start with this.
-Okay.

And then we crush
it down to this size.

-And then from there we make
various types of sands.
-[George] Hmm.

[Andrew] And then ultimately
the sand is put through a mill

-where we use
these ceramic pebbles.
-Okay.

And these pebbles then convert
the sand into a powder.

So, we go from this...

-to this.
-Interesting.

And this powder provides
a very functional benefit
for paints for example.

This powder prevents paints
from fading in the sun.

It also makes
the paint stronger,

so that when your kids write
on the walls

-and you scrub the walls...
-[George] Yes.

The reason the paint
doesn't come off the wall is
because of this powder.

Wow, there's
a lot of innovation inside
all these minerals and rocks.

There's a ton of innovation
wrapped around that

in both figuring out
the products

as well as innovating
our own process
to make the products.

Well, I'll tell you what,

with all of this going on,

I was kind of curious
'cause I got these pictures.

Just what goes on
with these big holes
that you're digging?

What happens
to them afterward?

Yeah, so, one of the most
important things we do is

when we are done with the mine
or even as we are mining is

we are reclaiming
that site as we go.

This year marks our 17th year
of publishing an annual
sustainability story.

And what our goal is
in our mining operations is

to take the areas
that we operate in

and ultimately return them
back to a natural state

that is as good or better
than how we found it.

We'll take those locations
and convert them
to prairie land.

We'll convert them to a park.

We'll convert them to a pond
that you can go fishing in.

So, it's our way
of making sure
that we do right

by the local communities
in which we serve,

and we leave
a lasting positive impression.

That's great.

I think I'm gonna go fishing.

-Sounds good.
-It was great to see you.

Good to see you, George.
Thank you.