The facts
What high-Purity Quartz actually is
High-Purity Quartz is classified as quartz refined to extreme chemical purity, used for the crucibles in which silicon is melted for semiconductors and solar wafers - a genuine strategic material, with the composition SiO2 with total impurities below 30 ppm, and below 10 ppm in the highest grades; aluminium and alkali content are the critical limits. It crystallises in the trigonal system.
Colour comes from colourless; any colour indicates disqualifying impurities, which is also what a laboratory looks at when it is asked whether a colour is natural.
Refractive index 1.544-1.553. Specific gravity around 2.65. Cleavage: none; conchoidal fracture. Those three numbers separate it from most of what imitates it.
Where high-Purity Quartz comes from
High-Purity Quartz is produced at Spruce Pine, Mitchell County, North Carolina, USA - the world's dominant source of the highest grades, from Alaskite pegmatite, Drag, Tysfjord, Nordland, Norway, Kyshtym, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia and Anhui and Jiangsu, China; Minas Gerais, Brazil; India.
The locality is part of the description, not a footnote — two stones of the same weight from two of these places are not the same stone.
How high-Purity Quartz is treated
Extensively processed: crushed, magnetically and flotation separated, acid-leached, chlorinated and calcined. Not a decorative material at all - this is a semiconductor supply-chain input. STRATEGIC CONCENTRATION IS THE STORY: two companies at Spruce Pine supply most of the world's crucible-grade quartz, and when Hurricane Helene shut the district in September 2024 it triggered global concern about chip and solar wafer supply. Several countries now list HPQ as a critical raw material and alternative sources in Norway, India and China are being developed.
Treatment changes value, sometimes by a multiple, so it belongs in the description before the price and not after the sale.
What high-Purity Quartz is confused with
In the trade high-Purity Quartz is most often mistaken for, or substituted by, Ordinary quartz sand and vein quartz (nowhere near pure enough), Synthetic fused silica (the competing product, made from HPQ or from chemical precursors) or Glass sand.
The separation is rarely a matter of opinion: refractive index 1.544-1.553 and specific gravity 2.65 settle most of it in a minute, and magnification settles the rest.
What high-Purity Quartz is used for
Demand for high-Purity Quartz comes from heavy industry, which is why one price per carat never covers it.
We quote each application in the unit that trade actually buys in, by the tonne.
Durability and care
High-Purity Quartz is 7 on the Mohs scale, with none; conchoidal fracture cleavage.
With no cleavage plane to worry about, the practical limit is abrasion rather than breakage, and it takes daily wear well.
Warm water, mild soap and a soft brush. Avoid ultrasonic cleaners on anything fracture-filled, stabilised, dyed or visibly included.
What high-Purity Quartz costs
As a guide, high-Purity Quartz trades around $5-15 per kilogram for standard high-purity grades; $50-300 per kilogram for the highest crucible and optical grades.
That is a range, not a quote. Colour, size, clarity, cut and origin move the figure a long way inside it, and the only honest price is one given against a specific stone. Send us what you need and we will price it.
Questions
Is high-Purity Quartz treated, and how?
Extensively processed: crushed, magnetically and flotation separated, acid-leached, chlorinated and calcined. Not a decorative material at all - this is a semiconductor supply-chain input. STRATEGIC CONCENTRATION IS THE STORY: two companies at Spruce Pine supply most of the world's crucible-grade quartz, and when Hurricane Helene shut the district in September 2024 it triggered global concern about chip and solar wafer supply. Several countries now list HPQ as a critical raw material and alternative sources in Norway, India and China are being developed.
Where does high-Purity Quartz come from?
Spruce Pine, Mitchell County, North Carolina, USA - the world's dominant source of the highest grades, from Alaskite pegmatite, Drag, Tysfjord, Nordland, Norway, Kyshtym, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia and Anhui and Jiangsu, China; Minas Gerais, Brazil; India. Origin affects price, so we name the locality rather than the country on every quote.
Is high-Purity Quartz hard enough to wear every day?
Yes. At 7 on the Mohs scale with no cleavage plane, it handles daily wear well. The practical limit is gradual abrasion rather than chipping.
How much does high-Purity Quartz cost?
Indicatively $5-15 per kilogram for standard high-purity grades; $50-300 per kilogram for the highest crucible and optical grades. Colour, size, clarity and origin move the price a long way within that, so treat it as a range and ask for a quote against a specific stone.
What is high-Purity Quartz confused with?
Most often Ordinary quartz sand and vein quartz (nowhere near pure enough), Synthetic fused silica (the competing product, made from HPQ or from chemical precursors) and Glass sand. A refractive index of 1.544-1.553 and a specific gravity near 2.65 separate it quickly.
Related stones
Looking for high-purity quartz?
Tell us the size, the quality and what it is for. We source it, photograph it and quote it — with the locality named.
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