OreSand Inc

OreSand Inc is a proposed for-impact commercial vehicle for OreSand. It is being developed to give partners a way to work with us commercially, through a business structure focused on bringing OreSand to market.

Building on UQ’s pioneering work on OreSand, the venture would sit between producers and users of OreSand, offering advisory services, assurance and certification, market-making, and training. Profits would be reinvested into research and education at the Global Centre for Mineral Security.

The OreSand Knowledge Hub hosts key concepts and the business case for OreSand Inc as part of our exploration of commercial pathways for tailings reduction and sustainable sand supply.

Why OreSand Inc?

Today, most OreSand work is carried out through research projects, grants, and one-off studies.

At the same time, there is a growing need for:

a neutral expert that can assess and certify OreSand products
a trusted broker between mining companies and sand users
a clear brand and assurance signal in the market
a way to turn early pilots into repeatable commercial services

OreSand Inc is being designed to meet these needs, while staying closely linked to UQ’s research base and the OreSand Knowledge Hub.

What OreSand Inc will do

OreSand Inc’s proposed service portfolio has four pillars.

Advisory services

Helping producers and users to design and deliver OreSand projects, including:

technical assessments and process options
business-case assessments
local ecosystem and market assessments
sustainability assessments
new venture advisory for OreSand-based businesses

Assurance and certification

Providing confidence that OreSand products and sites meet agreed criteria, through:

registration of products under an OreSand trademark
permissioned use of the OreSand brand
classification of potential uses
quality assurance on production and repeatability
site-level certification

Brokering and market-making

Acting as a trusted intermediary between producers and users:

broker services to match suitable OreSand supply and demand;
negotiated production royalties linked to tonnes of certified OreSand produced.

Training and research translation

Turning research into practice:

training packages and workshops for industry, regulators, and other stakeholders;
support to embed OreSand methods into company and sector practice.

Contact us if you are interested in collaborating through a commercial vehicle, or want to understand how OreSand Inc could work alongside research projects.

OreSand Inc is designed to work with:

OreSand producers – metal miners seeking to reduce tailings, unlock production capacity, and diversify revenue.
OreSand users – construction materials companies, regional suppliers, and industrial users (for example, ceramics, bricks, glass) looking for reliable, lower-carbon sand sources.
Public actors – regulators, policy makers, and public agencies interested in decarbonisation, circular economy, and regional development.

The OreSand Knowledge Hub focuses on decision supports, learning, and systems change. OreSand Inc adds a potential commercial arm.

The relationship between the two is simple:

the Hub provides open tools, methods, and case material

OreSand Inc will provide structured services for partners who need a commercial arrangement, clear deliverables, and defined timelines

Insights from the OreSand Inc business case feed into the Toolkit’s business-model and market-development tools. In turn, Hub tools help shape advisory offers, certification frameworks, and market-making services.

OreSand Inc has been recognised by the World Economic Forum’s UpLink platform as a top global innovation contributing to more sustainable mining and materials systems.

It features in UpLink’s Sustainable Mining: Mining the Unmined issue and across several Sustainable Development Goal thematic areas.

This recognition supports our ambition to position OreSand Inc as a trusted, global intermediary between mining and construction, aligned with international sustainability goals.

Media examples:

Sustainable Mining: Mining the Unmined - UpLink

OreSand recognised amid need for more sand - Mining.com

OreSand Inc is currently in the design and scoping phase. The business case sets out:

a phased roadmap from early demonstration projects to broader deployment
base-case and upside financial projections, both profitable from Year 1 under conservative assumptions
options for implementation through University of Queensland commercialisation pathways
potential investment partners, including impact-oriented corporates and public financiers

Elements of the model are already being tested through ongoing projects with mining companies, construction materials firms, and through the Coalition for Responsible Sand and Silicates.