Purification of Quartz from East Qinling Granitic Pegmatite for the Preparation of High-Purity Quartz Sand

High-purity quartz is an important raw material for strategic emerging industries, including photovoltaics and semiconductors. To improve the deep removal of impurities from granitic-pegmatite quartz and clarify the effects of calcination–water quenching, a quartz concentrate from the East Qinling Mountains was selected as the feed material. Calcination–water quenching, HF–HCl–HNO3 mixed-acid leaching, and chlorination roasting were systematically investigated. The results showed that calcination temperature markedly affected quartz-sand whiteness and the occurrence of residue-like surface attachments. Treatment at 900 °C substantially reduced these attachments and enhanced subsequent acid-leaching efficiency. At final HF, HCl, and HNO3 concentrations of 1, 2, and 1 mol/L, respectively, Al, Ca, Fe, K, Na, and other impurities were effectively removed, reducing the total concentration of 15 impurity elements to 19.43 μg/g. The inclusion area fraction decreased from 0.97% to 0.38%. Subsequent chlorination roasting at 900 °C further reduced the total impurity concentration to 17.26 μg/g, increased the nominal SiO2 purity to 99.9982%, and decreased the inclusion area fraction to 0.31%. These results demonstrate the potential of East Qinling granitic-pegmatite quartz as a feedstock for photovoltaic-grade high-purity quartz sand.

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Journal
Minerals
Published
2026-09-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/min16090938
Primary Topic
Clay minerals and soil interactions
Type
article
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article

Purification of Quartz from East Qinling Granitic Pegmatite for the Preparation of High-Purity Quartz Sand

Yuejun Yi, Hongli Zhang, Zhongyu Zhang, Zhichao Wu et al.
Minerals
Clay minerals and soil interactions
article

Purification of Quartz from East Qinling Granitic Pegmatite for the Preparation of High-Purity Quartz Sand

Yuejun Yi, Hongli Zhang, Zhongyu Zhang, Zhichao Wu, Yameng Ma
article en

Abstract

High-purity quartz is an important raw material for strategic emerging industries, including photovoltaics and semiconductors. To improve the deep removal of impurities from granitic-pegmatite quartz and clarify the effects of calcination–water quenching, a quartz concentrate from the East Qinling Mountains was selected as the feed material. Calcination–water quenching, HF–HCl–HNO3 mixed-acid leaching, and chlorination roasting were systematically investigated. The results showed that calcination temperature markedly affected quartz-sand whiteness and the occurrence of residue-like surface attachments. Treatment at 900 °C substantially reduced these attachments and enhanced subsequent acid-leaching efficiency. At final HF, HCl, and HNO3 concentrations of 1, 2, and 1 mol/L, respectively, Al, Ca, Fe, K, Na, and other impurities were effectively removed, reducing the total concentration of 15 impurity elements to 19.43 μg/g. The inclusion area fraction decreased from 0.97% to 0.38%. Subsequent chlorination roasting at 900 °C further reduced the total impurity concentration to 17.26 μg/g, increased the nominal SiO2 purity to 99.9982%, and decreased the inclusion area fraction to 0.31%. These results demonstrate the potential of East Qinling granitic-pegmatite quartz as a feedstock for photovoltaic-grade high-purity quartz sand.

MineralsVol. 16(9)
Ministry of Natural Resources (CN), Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences (CN), National Engineering Research Center for Wheat (CN)
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Openalex Percentile: Top 21%
Clay minerals and soil interactions
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