China’s discovery of rare quartz used to make solar panels and semiconductors could help rewrite US import dominance
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenVictoria BelaPublished: 10:00am, 8 Jun 2026China has discovered a new source of high-purity quartz in its western Tibet autonomous region, potentially reducing its reliance on imports of the critical material to make solar panels and semiconductors.High-purity quartz is a gold standard manufacturing material for numerous hi-tech items, including some whose global market is dominated by China.
08:58What are rare earths, and why is China’s dominance facing global pushback“This study evaluates Tibet leucogranites as a potential raw material for high-purity quartz,” according to a paper published in the European Journal of Mineralogy in April.
“Our results demonstrate that these leucogranites hold considerable potential to produce high-purity quartz with [silica] contents above 99.995 per cent,” the team from the University of Science and Technology of China and the China Geological Survey wrote.
The study showed that the high-purity quartz supply exceeded the threshold required for use in hi-tech manufacturing.
The finding “offers a significant opportunity to develop high-end quartz resources in China, ensuring a stable and strategic supply of high-purity quartz raw materials”, the authors said.
