Silica refractory research and development has taken a down-turn; perhaps due to the problems associated with it, or because of concerns regarding earth conservation, earth being a major source of the raw material - quartz - which is used for silica refractory manufacture. In this review, the authors have pin-pointed the problems associated with silica refractory use from the researches of the early era (1913 to 1990) and have assessed the themes of current research, in order to ascertain how well these current researches have attended to the problems raised in the early research era. The review shows that the gaps identified in the early research era still remain unattended to. It concludes by making a case for nanostructured silica obtained from rice husk ash (RHA), for the production of silica refractory, as a way of solving these problems and making silica refractory production a booming industry once again. © (2010) Trans Tech Publications.