Quartz – the unsuspected critical mineral

High Purity Silica (HPS) is the raw material required for production of silicon used for many technological applications. We present a new mineral system model and the first national mineral potential map supported by a national sampling campaign.

High Purity Silica (HPS) is the principal raw material used for the production of silicon, which is, in turn, used to create products including semiconductors, solar cells and other technologies being developed to support the transition to a net zero economy. The mineral quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth’s crust, but the high purity form of quartz has preferred SiO2 content of over 99.995%, which makes it extremely uncommon. With growing demand for green technologies, there is a parallel increase in demand for the discovery of new high purity quartz deposits to supply the raw material. Geoscience Australia is addressing this demand by generating the first mineral systems model and accompanying national scale mineral potential map to help explorers accelerate discovery. Further, we are undertaking the first national scale sampling and analytical campaign to examine the impact of mineral systems on quartz purity and develop the Explorers’ Toolbox—an industry applicable, best practice guideline for the characterisation of potential HPS deposits.

0:00 - Introduction
3:45 - Seminar