Ultra High Purity
Quartz (UHPQ)
Ultra High Purity and High Purity Quartz is an important and urgent task, to support the transition to the renewable economy. The material is used in the manufacture of optical glass, optical fibers for internet cables, silicon for solar power and electronics.
Hyper & Ultra High Purity Quartz (HPQ)
From the Moora Silica Sand Project & Tambellup Kaolin Project, the Company intends to develop a 4N, 4N8 and 5N (SiO2 content over 99.999%) Ultra High Purity Quartz.
Production of high-purity silica-5N (SiO2 content over 99.999%) is an important and urgent task of the modern chemical industry. This material is used in the manufacture of optical glass, optical fibers for internet cables, silicon for solar power and electronics.
Bulk sample has been completed to confirm the flow sheet and available for testing by off take partners. Vytas aims to produce 12,000tpa.
Please contact Vytas for expressions of interest.
High Purity Quartz (HPQ)
Vytas has produced HPQ grading as high as 99.97% SiO2 and as low as 30ppm Fe from the Moora Silica Sand Project. The Company aims to produce 2Mtpa of 3N5 HPQ product (SiO2 content over 99.95%) with <100 ppm impurities. The target markets include the solar panel industry and other high end applications.
HPQ Market
HPQ is a special feedstock that is used in industries that have high-tech applications, for example, the solar industry and semi-conductors, whilst lower quality HPQ is used in glass manufacturing. The source materials for HPQ may come from either quartz sand or quartzite rock that is beneficiated to remove impurities and further processed to reach strict quality specifications.
Quality specifications for a range of glass and HPQ products is provided in the table below. It is generally considered that the starting quality of feedstock for solar panels and semi-conductors is 99.95 % SiO2, with <500 ppm of total impurities.
HPQ specifications for a variety of glass products (Source: Dr Richard Flook)
| Type | SiO2 (%) | Impurities, % (ppm) | US $/t |
| Hyper HPQ | 99.999 (5N) | 0.001 (10) | >$12,000 |
| Ultra-High HPQ | 99.997 | 0.003 (30) | $5,000 – $8,000 |
| High HPQ | 99.99 (4N) | 0.01 (100) | $500 – $800 |
| Intermediate HPQ | 99.95 | 0.05 (500) | $300 – $500 |
| Optical Glass | 99.8 | 0.2 (2,000) | $160 – 400 |
| Clear Glass | 99.5 | 0.5 (5,000) | $38 – $85 |
HPQ Demand
The HPQ market is currently valued at US $919 million and it is expected to reach US $1.72 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 6.5 % (Persistence Market Research, 2022) driven primarily by the rapid uptake of solar panels.
As shown in the table above, the market price for HPQ is strongly controlled by quality, and in particular the final silica composition and level of impurities.
HPQ Testwork
Vytas has completed preliminary batch testing on representative silica sand materials from the Moora Silica Sand Project, with the results presented in the table below.
Results of preliminary batch testing for the production of HPQ
| Sand Type | Material | Al2O3 (%) | SiO2 (%) | Fe2O3 (%) | TiO2 (%) |
| White Sand (WS1) | Raw Feed | 0.16 | 99.4 | 0.08 | 0.17 |
| (WS1) | Final Product | 0.02 | 99.96 | 0.016 | 0.01 |
| White Sand (WS2) | Raw Feed | 0.02 | 99.7 | 0.04 | 0.14 |
| (WS2) | Final Product | <0.01 | 99.97 | 0.011 | <0.01 |
| White Sand (WS3) | Raw Feed | 0.01 | 99.75 | 0.03 | 0.09 |
| (WS3) | Final Product | <0.01 | 99.97 | <0.01 | <0.01 |
The results of the above batch testing have been used to establish the flow sheet to produce HPQ. Vytas aims to produce 200kg of sample of beneficiated product for off take negotiations during the pilot plant phase. Please contact Vytas for expressions of interest.