A process for producing from olivine precipitated silica with controlled specific surface area and high degree of purity. The process comprises adding olivine in a controlled manner to a heated mineral acid solution; after separating undissolved olivine and filtering the silica is slurried in aqueous solution to obtain a low viscosity high solid content silica slurry that can be efficiently degritted and dried with a relatively low energy consumption. The obtained silica can be in powder, bead or granule form and preferably has a specific surface area of at least about 100 m2/g.