Mining company Australian Silica Quartz Group (ASQ) has started drilling at the Quartz Hill project in North Queensland, Australia, as part of exploration work to uncover quartz to produce metallurgical grade silicon (MGSi).
High-grade quartz is necessary as a precursor feedstock to produce MGSi, and both ASQ and investment manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners are working to assess Quartz Hill as a source of MGSi feedstock.
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Subject to further detailed quality testing and feasibility work, the mineral resources at the mining site could potentially be used for Quinbrook’s polysilicon project in Townsville, 300km away from the mining site. Last year, Quinbrook acquired a 200 hectare site to build a polysilicon production plant, which is expected to be powered by a solar-plus-storage project.
Following a mineral resource estimate conducted last December, the Quartz Hill MGSi Project contains 17.3Mt of MGSi quartz at 99.04% silicon dioxide (SiO2) in accordance with the 2012 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. The edition is set out by the joint ore reserves committee (JORC), and is a professional code of practice that sets minimum standards for public reporting of mineral exploration results, mineral resources and ore reserves.
In exchange for AU$1 million (US$666,000), Quinbrook acquired exclusive rights to purchase 10 million tonnes of MGSi quartz from the Quartz Hill project, at either a 10% discount to the prevailing MGSi quartz market price or such a price that would constitute a fair market return to ASQ, according to the mining company.
Considering that the resource estimate of 17.3Mt of MGSi quartz is much higher than the 10Mt purchase agreement, Robert Johansen, senior director at Minerals at Private Energy Partners, a Quinbrook development affiliate, commented in December 2023 that: “Subject to further detailed quality testing and feasibility work, this significant resource seems increasingly likely to be able to support even the very largest scale polysilicon plant that is being studied for Lansdown.”
