According to a report by Hong Kong's English-language newspaper The South China Morning Post on June 8, China has discovered new high-purity quartz resources in the western region. These resources can be used to produce high-tech materials such as solar cells and semiconductors, which helps reduce dependence on imports from countries like the United States.
Reports indicate that high-purity quartz is a “gold standard” material in many high-tech manufacturing fields. The global markets for some of these industries are dominated by China. Due to the lack of such rare quartz resources domestically, China has long relied on imports, with most of these imports coming from the United States. However, recent geological discoveries could help to change this dependency structure.
October 3, 2025, Beijing, China Geological Museum, specimen from Guangdong Lianjiang. IC Photo
A paper published in the European Journal of Mineralogy in April stated, "This study evaluated the potential of light-colored granite from Tibet as a source material for high-purity quartz."
The research team wrote: “Our results indicate that these light-colored granites have the great potential to produce high-purity quartz, with a silicon dioxide content exceeding 99.995%.”
Research shows that the quality of this high-purity quartz resource exceeds the requirements for high-tech manufacturing.
The research team's paper
The author stated that this discovery “provides an important opportunity for the development of high-end quartz resources in China, and helps to ensure a stable and strategic supply of high-purity quartz materials.”
Tibetan light granite is a type of granite primarily composed of quartz, which is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust. In contrast, high-purity quartz—with a silica purity of at least 99.9%—is extremely rare.
Due to its heat resistance, corrosion resistance, high insulation properties, and low thermal expansion characteristics, high-purity quartz is used as a basic material for emerging industries and is also an important raw material for the production of polycrystalline silicon. Polycrystalline silicon enables solar cells to convert sunlight into electrical energy. Additionally, it is used in the manufacture of quartz crucibles, which are widely used in the production processes of electronic components, optical components, solar cells, and computer chips.
According to Chinese research teams, global high-purity quartz resources are “scarce and unevenly distributed, resulting in significant supply chain risks”.
After studying the purification potential of the newly discovered light-colored granite, researchers found that the quartz impurities could be "effectively removed." The final product has a silicon dioxide content of at least 99.995%. If the purification process is further optimized, the purity can be even higher.
The research team wrote: “The widely distributed light-colored granite in the area provides an ideal subject for achieving high-purity quartz resources and ensuring national resource security.”
High-purity quartz is an essential key material for strategic emerging industries such as semiconductors and photovoltaics. It plays a crucial role in the country's high-tech competition. However, high-purity quartz deposits are extremely rare in nature, making them a true “super silicon” resource.
China is the world's largest importer of high-purity quartz, and most of the high-purity quartz supply worldwide comes from a mine in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, USA.
By the end of 2025, with the release of the "Announcement on Newly Discovered Mineral Species" by the Ministry of Natural Resources, high-purity quartz ore has been recognized as China's 174th mineral species, becoming another new mineral species in our country. This is also the only new mineral species established during China's 14th Five-Year Plan period.
This mineral species was discovered between 2020 and 2021 by the Natural Resources Department of Henan Province and the Zhengzhou Institute for Comprehensive Utilization of Minerals under the China Geological Survey. The main production areas are the eastern Qinling region in Henan and the Alatai region in Xinjiang.
A relevant official from the Ministry of Natural Resources stated that the establishment of the new mineral resource, high-purity quartz ore, will have a positive impact on the cultivation and development of new productive forces, as well as on enhancing the resilience and security of China’s industrial and supply chains.
Meanwhile, many enterprises and research institutions across the country have carried out technical research, successfully obtaining pilot products with a quality level of 4N5 or higher. Some samples even reached the 4N8 level. Significant breakthroughs have been made in aspects such as the investigation and evaluation of high-purity quartz deposits, resource exploration, deep purification, and targeted impurity removal. This has marked a crucial step forward in promoting the industrialization of producing high-purity quartz sand using local resources.
The Ministry of Natural Resources previously stated that China will accelerate the search for more sources across the country.
It is worth mentioning that this discovery is just a microcosm of the achievements of China's new round of geological exploration campaigns. In recent years, China has made significant discoveries in several key strategic minerals.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, China discovered 398 large and medium-sized mineral deposits (oil and gas fields). Among these, 225 were oil and gas fields. The newly explored geological reserves of oil and gas continued to grow at a high rate. Major mineral resources such as copper, gold, and potassium salts have achieved several historic breakthroughs in exploration. Strategic emerging minerals like lithium, helium, and high-purity quartz have seen leapfrog development in exploration. China's ability to independently guarantee resources has significantly improved, which has strongly supported the construction and consolidation of 198 energy resource bases. This has significantly enhanced China's position and competitiveness in the global industrial division of labor within the mining industry.
