Kayasand gears up to meet demand for engineered sand in concrete

Kayasand News: 11 July 2023

Kayasand gears up to meet demand for engineered sand in concrete

The sand is shifting as Kayasand prepares to increase production capacity at their demonstration plant at Ward Quarry in Waikato, three months after its official opening.

Demand for sand engineered on their V7-40 plant is being driven by the success of concrete trials. They have exceeded expectations and prospective customers are coming back for more.

Bram Smith, CEO of Kayasand, says those who are actively looking for a commercially viable, economical and sustainable alternative to natural sand in concrete are now open to the potential of using engineered sand.

“One concrete manufacturer wanted to confirm our independent testing for themselves. They were astounded by the 25% increase in concrete strength achieved by simply changing the sand. This was compared with a normal Auckland concrete mix design.”

Smith believes it is important to make engineered sand available to trial. The industry needs to see how it performs for themselves.

“In most cases, the impact of using sand engineered on Kayasand plant is immediately noticeable. It flows better, pumps easier and often has a much better finish. Triallists can clearly see an even distribution of particles and the savings in cement are substantial.”

Kayasand are in the middle of a 1,000 tonne production run for a customer and others are lining up to run engineered sand through its paces.

The sand in recent trials was engineered from Greywacke-based crusher dust sources at Ward Quarry and nearby.

Next week, a 40-tonne shipment of raw material arrives from Australia for processing into engineered sand.

Kayasand’s innovative process tightly controls the shape, size, level of contaminants and consistency of the particles to produce a high-quality finished product. The same process can also be used to engineer sand from recycled glass and concrete.

“A paradigm shift is underway in the construction industry,” says Smith. “The realisation that there really is a readily available economical and sustainable replacement for natural sand in concrete.”

Kayasand’s process enables the industry to reduce their dependence on the diminishing supply of natural sand by taking advantage of the raw materials at hand. In doing so they conserve natural resources and protect the environment for generations to come.

In 2023, as part of a larger equity raise, Kayasand secured $3.5 million in funding from New Zealand Green Investment Finance (NZGIF) to reduce carbon emissions from concrete.

Kayasand is committed to making their technology available for the long-term benefit of New Zealanders, the environment and the construction industry.

The V7-40 plant in Waikato is capable of producing 100,000 tonnes per annum of engineered sand, so there is capacity to meet growing demand for large batches of engineered sand for trials.

Media enquiries:
Libby May 021 378 232

About Kayasand
Kayasand is at the forefront of innovation in the engineering of sand. Our use of advanced fine aggregate crushing and screening technologies produces sand of such high quality when compared with natural sand. It creates stronger, more durable concrete with excellent workability and finish. Manufactured sand from our V7 plants has the potential to save concrete producers 6,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year and eliminate the need for natural sand dredging, tailings or settlement ponds.