Establishment Announcement! Pooling Strength to Break Through the Technological Barrier of High-purity Quartz Resources!

Recently, the Engineering Technology Innovation Center for High-purity Quartz Resources Development and Utilization, under the Ministry of Natural Resources, was officially launched at the Zhengzhou Institute of Comprehensive Utilization of Mineral Resources of the China Geological Survey. The establishment of this innovation center aims to pool strength and break through the technological barrier of high-purity quartz resources, ensuring the secure supply of critical strategic emerging industry resources and materials in China.

The "Giant Panda" in Silicon Dioxide

Although quartz is widely distributed in nature, high-purity quartz with high purity is scarce. It is mainly used in high-tech industries such as semiconductor chips, solar photovoltaics, optical fiber communications, aerospace, precision optics, and specialty glass. It is an essential and irreplaceable functional material for the development of high-tech industries. High-end high-purity quartz products of grade 4N8 and above are mainly imported at high prices in China.

The scarcity of high-purity quartz is mainly reflected in the extreme scarcity and uneven distribution of global high-purity quartz raw material deposits. They are mainly distributed in countries such as the United States, Norway, Russia, Australia, and India. Currently, globally developed high-purity quartz deposits mainly include granite pegmatite type, hydrothermal vein type, and crystal deposits. Among them, the granite pegmatite type quartz resources in the United States have good quality and large scale, accounting for approximately 90% of the total discovered global high-purity quartz resources. Due to the differences in impurities in quartz deposits worldwide, different technologies are required to address the purification issues of different sources. Some impurities in quartz sand can be reduced through methods such as magnetic separation and acid washing, but if there are numerous lattice impurities, as well as inclusion of tiny mineral inclusions and fluid inclusions, removing these impurities becomes a challenging task in purification technology. Furthermore, achieving industrialization and reducing costs on the basis of removing fluid inclusions are even more difficult, which is why there is a high technological barrier in purification research and development. Therefore, high-end products of high-purity quartz can be considered the "giant panda" of silicon dioxide.

Combining Industry, Academia, Research, and Application

The Engineering Technology Innovation Center for High-purity Quartz Resources Development and Utilization under the Ministry of Natural Resources relies on the Zhengzhou Institute of Comprehensive Utilization of Mineral Resources for construction and operation. It is jointly built by China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing) and Lianyungang Fudong Zhengyou Lighting and Electrical Appliances Co., Ltd.

The center is positioned to focus on geological exploration of high-purity quartz resources, purification evaluation, and material preparation. It aims to concentrate efforts on technological innovation and engineering research and development for the development and utilization of high-purity quartz. The center carries out rapid identification and screening of high-purity quartz raw materials, geological exploration, impurity removal and purification, and the development of high-purity high-end materials. It aims to gather strength to lead original and innovative scientific and technological breakthroughs in the geological exploration of high-purity quartz resources, deep purification, and material applications. It seeks to overcome key technical challenges such as the selection of low fluid inclusion raw materials and targeted removal of impurities. Additionally, it aims to develop into a radiation source and incubator for the promotion of new technologies, applications, and equipment in the development and utilization of high-purity quartz. Furthermore, the center aims to establish a comprehensive evaluation system for quartz resources, mineral genes, and high-end materials, and to form a standardized system suitable for the exploration, purification processing, analysis and testing, and quality evaluation of high-purity quartz resources in China. It will develop quality standards for high-purity quartz sand products in different industries and corresponding analytical testing standards. The center will also carry out engineering applications, industrialization demonstrations, and promote the substitution of domestically produced high-purity quartz raw materials, enhance China's capabilities in the development and utilization of high-purity quartz resources, and support the secure supply of critical strategic emerging industry resources and materials.

Since receiving approval from the Ministry of Natural Resources for construction in August 2022, the center has fully relied on the disciplinary advantages and scientific research resources of universities, research institutes, and leading enterprises in the industry. It combines industry, academia, research, and application, and integrates strengths to collaborate on key technology research and development, achievement transformation, and technical services. It coordinates the development of resource chains, innovation chains, and industrial chains.

Significant Research and Development Progress

Although the center has been under construction for less than a year since its approval, it has already achieved positive results and significant progress.

New breakthroughs have been made in geological exploration of high-purity quartz, effectively safeguarding national energy and resource security. The center focuses on the granite pegmatite type high-purity quartz resources with large scale and stable quality. It conducts research on ore-forming geological conditions and typical deposit-forming rules, and summarizes the field exploration markers of "structural characteristics + mineral assemblages + quartz typomorphism". It has initially established ore exploration methods for the granite pegmatite type high-purity quartz resources. Over 1,200 samples have been collected from various parts of the country, and 26 new high-purity quartz mining sites that can produce 4N grade and above have been discovered. Two high-purity quartz deposits with 4N5 grade and above have been identified.

A comprehensive investigation and evaluation system covering the entire process has been established to achieve precise resource survey and evaluation. A pioneering comprehensive investigation and evaluation system, namely "prediction of prospective mineralization areas - delineation of survey areas - precise sample collection - pre-treatment - deep impurity removal through ore dressing - chemical deep purification - product testing and analysis," has been established. This system enables precise evaluation of the potential of high-purity quartz resources and has developed a series of patented technologies, including the identification and screening of high-purity quartz raw materials, evaluation of high-purity quartz purification, identification and evaluation of fluid inclusions, quartz particle size control, detection of trace impurity elements, and product quality assessment. Additionally, a high-purity quartz product analysis and testing platform has been established, and the draft of the industry standard "Comprehensive Evaluation Guidelines for Siliceous Raw Materials Used in High-purity Quartz" has been completed and submitted for review, providing guidance for the evaluation of high-purity quartz resource utilization.

A "killer" technology for targeted removal of impurities has been developed, achieving a major breakthrough in 4N8 grade high-purity quartz. Considering that the content and distribution of impurity elements in high-purity quartz determine its application performance and product solutions, the center, based on the relationship between impurity occurrence states and purification processes, has utilized a selected sample of BY7-5 granite pegmatite high-purity quartz from the Altai region of Xinjiang for deep purification. It has developed a targeted removal technology for impurity elements such as Ca in high-purity quartz, achieving a purity of 99.9983% for high-purity quartz products. The content of 6 key impurity elements, including Al, Ti, Ca, K, Na, and Li, meets the requirements of high-purity quartz crucible materials. This is the first successful preparation of 4N8 grade and above high-purity quartz sand products using domestically available granite pegmatite quartz resources.