Acknowledgment to the Reviewers of Journal of Environmental & Earth Sciences in 2025
2026-02-06
Innovations in High-Purity Quartz Production: Geological Insights, Purification Technologies, and Environmental Impacts
Authors
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Guanghui Zhang
Henan Huahui Geological Exploration Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou 450000, China
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30564/jees.v8i8.13631Abstract
High-purity quartz (HPQ) is a critical feedstock for advanced technologies, including photovoltaic crucibles, semiconductor processing, optics, and fused silica products. However, it can be produced only from a geologically rare subset of quartz resources. This review synthesizes the latest advances in HPQ production from the integrated perspectives of geological controls, characterization and metrology, purification technologies, and environmental performance. It emphasizes that processability is governed by impurity mode rather than solely by bulk SiO₂ content: lattice-bound substitutions, mineral inclusions, grain-boundary phases, and fluid inclusions respond differently to comminution, physical beneficiation, chemical leaching, and thermal conditioning. New microanalytical mapping and defect- and inclusion-diagnostic technologies are enabling geology-informed geometallurgical models that predict purification response, guide selective mining and material routing, and minimize off-specification products. On the processing side, innovation increasingly focuses on selective and integrated approaches, including low-contamination comminution, enhanced surface cleaning and fines management, high-intensity and selective magnetic/electrostatic separation, sensor-based sorting for early waste rejection, and staged leaching strategies that maximize impurity removal while minimizing reagent consumption. Environmental performance is also increasingly shaping flowsheet design, with energy demand, water management, chemical hazards, and tailings and effluent treatment identified as key hotspots. Cleaner production pathways include closed-loop water and reagent systems, fluoride/acid recovery where applicable, electrification and heat recovery, and life-cycle assessment (LCA) based on specification-compliant HPQ production. Finally, the review integrates geology, metrology, and processing into a decision-making framework for achieving target purity with a reduced environmental impact.
Keywords:
High-Purity Quartz; Geometallurgy; Impurity Modes; Leaching and Beneficiation; Life-Cycle AssessmentReferences
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Zhang, G. (2026). Innovations in High-Purity Quartz Production: Geological Insights, Purification Technologies, and Environmental Impacts. Journal of Environmental & Earth Sciences, 8(8), 1148–1174. https://doi.org/10.30564/jees.v8i8.13631
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