The disclosure herein includes methods of preparing ceramic beads, useful as proppant materials, by mixing ceramic precursors, such as slag, fly ash, or aluminum dross, forming bead precursors from the mixture, and heating the bead precursors to drive a chemical reaction between the ceramic precursors to form the ceramic beads. The resultant ceramic beads may be generally spherical particles that are characterized by diameters of about 0.1 to 2 mm, a diametral strength of at least about 100 MPa, and a specific gravity of about 1.0 to 3.0. A coating process may optionally be used to increase a diametral strength of a proppant material. A sieving process may optionally be used to obtain a smaller range of sizes of proppant materials.

A blasting abrasive and a method of use are provided. The blasting abrasive includes a ferrochrome slag having a composition of SiO.sub.2 in a range of from about 30 to 40 wt % (weight percent); Al.sub.2O.sub.3 in a range of from about 25 to 35 wt %; of Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, Cr.sub.2O.sub.3, or a combination thereof in a range of from about 10-20 wt %; MgO in a range of from about 15 to 25 wt %, by weight of the ferrochrome slag. The ferrochrome slag has a particle size in a range of from about 100 to 850 m (micrometers) with a particular size distribution.

A blasting abrasive and a method of use are provided. The blasting abrasive includes a ferrochrome slag having a composition of SiO.sub.2 in a range of from about 30 to 40 wt % (weight percent); Al.sub.2O.sub.3 in a range of from about 25 to 35 wt %; of Fe.sub.2O.sub.3, Cr.sub.2O.sub.3, or a combination thereof in a range of from about 10-20 wt %; MgO in a range of from about 15 to 25 wt %, by weight of the ferrochrome slag. The ferrochrome slag has a particle size in a range of from about 100 to 850 m (micrometers) with a particular size distribution.