he did address this at some point over the years during his...

he did address this at some point over the years during his ramblings. In essence all sand deposits can be refined and ground to the appropriate grade and sizing for flour, but its labour and enegry intensive.... so the higher the grade of the raw material the less energry, labour and wastage is required. Muchae is like 1 of a handful of deposits in the world where its up to grade out of the ground, reducing the input costs to get the material grade you're after.

As for Aus vs Asia for costs.... i think you'd have to go industry by industry these days to test that assumption as automation and the price of power would have dramatic effects. but the real arguement is not in the making glass, or mining sand, or what ever.... the trick is vertical integration of all of it. as long as most of the steps in the chain are profitable, the rest can run as "enablers" but at a loss.... but they also give you market control and redundancy so there is value in that.