Product catalogue
National-scale high purity silica mineral systems study
<div>Critical minerals are the minerals and elements essential for modern technologies, economies and national security. However, the supply chains of these minerals may be vulnerable to disruption thereby making the study of these minerals, from source to product, of primary importance. </div><div><br></div><div>The global transition to net-zero emissions is driving accelerated consumption of critical minerals, particularly driven by the increase in demand for technologies such as solar photovoltaics (PV) and semiconductors (Department of Industry, Science and Resources [DISR], 2022; 2023). In parallel, the phasing out of, for example, traditional machinery and manufacturing processes reliant on hydrocarbon resources (Ali et al., 2017; Bruce et al., 2021; International Energy Agency [IEA], 2021; 2023; Skirrow et al., 2013) is further adding to the global demand. High Purity Quartz (HPQ) forms just one of these critical minerals, and is the primary raw material for the production of High Purity Silica (HPS) and Silicon (Si) for use in products ranging from solar PVs to semiconductors. </div><div><br></div><div>The current list of minerals classified as critical is now up to 31 (Department of Industry, Science and Resources [DISR], 2022; 2023). This diversity of critical minerals is also promoting a new focus on the exploration for i) new styles of mineralisation that might host sufficient volumes of critical minerals, and ii) a re-examination of existing minerals systems knowledge in order to help mineral explorers make new discoveries to help support the increasing demand. </div><div><br></div><div>At present, the main global suppliers of HPQ are the United States, Canada, Norway, Brazil, Russia and India (Pan et al., 2022). In Australia, there has been a paucity of exploration and development of HPQ mineral deposits and, despite the potential that Australia holds for the exploration and discovery of potentially significant HPQ occurrences, Simcoa Operations Pty Ltd. (Figure 1) represents the only operator currently mining HPQ, and the only manufacturer of high purity silicon in Australia (Simcoa, 2020). </div><div><br></div><div>Australia is well-positioned to incentivise the exploration, discovery and supply of raw materials, and significantly expand onshore silicon production capacity (PricewaterhouseCoopers, 2022). Research presented here highlights the opportunity that Australia has in making a positive contribution to meeting the global demand for HPQ required for high-technology applications and the transition to a net zero economy. </div><div><br></div>Abstract presented at the 2024 Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES)
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Identification info
- Date (Creation)
- 2024-03-07T20:00:00
- Date (Publication)
- 2024-04-24T06:28:27
- Citation identifier
- Geoscience Australia Persistent Identifier/https://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/149318
- Cited responsible party
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Publisher Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Author Walsh, J.
Internal Contact Author Jennings, A.
Internal Contact Author Senior, A.
Internal Contact Author Guerin, K.
Internal Contact Author Richards, S.
Internal Contact
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Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES) 16-17 April 2024, Alice Spring, NT
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The following is an extended abstract for the Annual Geoscience Exploration Seminar (AGES), to be held at the Alice Springs Convention Centre from 16 to 17 April 2024.
- Status
- Completed
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Resource provider Minerals, Energy and Groundwater Division
External Contact Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Point of contact Walsh, J.
Internal Contact
- Spatial representation type
- Topic category
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- Geoscientific information
Extent
))
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
Resource format
- Title
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Product data repository: Various Formats
- Website
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Data Store directory containing the digital product files
Data Store directory containing one or more files, possibly in a variety of formats, accessible to Geoscience Australia staff only for internal purposes
- Project
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Australian Critical Minerals Research and Development Hub
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- Keywords
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high purity silica
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high purity quartz
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silicon
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Australia
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critical minerals
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photovoltaics
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semiconductor
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renewable energy
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net zero
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- theme.ANZRC Fields of Research.rdf
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Resource geoscience
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Published_External
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Resource constraints
- Title
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
- Alternate title
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CC-BY
- Edition
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4.0
- Addressee
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details User Any
- Use constraints
- License
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- Other restrictions
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© Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2024
Resource constraints
- Title
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Australian Government Security Classification System
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
- Classification system
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Australian Government Security Classification System
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
Distribution Information
- Distributor contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Distributor Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice facsimile
- OnLine resource
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Link to Conference Page
Link to Conference Page
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- OnLine resource
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Link to Conference Proceedings (p107)
Link to Conference Proceedings (p107)
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- OnLine resource
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Link to Presentations and Posters
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Resource lineage
- Statement
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<div>All authors have reviewed this extended abstract for AGES-2024.</div>
Metadata constraints
- Title
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Australian Government Security Classification System
- Edition date
- 2018-11-01T00:00:00
- Classification
- Unclassified
Metadata
- Metadata identifier
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urn:uuid/74521cf3-a687-43a4-b472-be205e652e5b
- Title
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GeoNetwork UUID
- Language
- English
- Character encoding
- UTF8
- Contact
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Role Organisation / Individual Name Details Point of contact Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia)
Voice Point of contact Walsh, J.
Internal Contact
Type of resource
- Resource scope
- Document
- Name
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Conference Abstract
Alternative metadata reference
- Title
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Geoscience Australia - short identifier for metadata record with
uuid
- Citation identifier
- eCatId/149318
- Date info (Creation)
- 2024-04-24T06:15:24
- Date info (Revision)
- 2024-04-24T06:15:24
Metadata standard
- Title
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AU/NZS ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-1:2014
Metadata standard
- Title
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ISO 19115-3
- Title
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Geoscience Australia Community Metadata Profile of ISO 19115-1:2014
- Edition
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Version 2.0, September 2018
- Citation identifier
- http://pid.geoscience.gov.au/dataset/ga/122551