Extraction and purification of a high purity quartz in the Altay orogenic belt and its potential evaluation

High-purity quartz (HPQ) serves as a critical raw material for strategic high-tech industries. This study focused on the leaching purification of HPQ derived from Xinjiang pegmatitic quartz concentrates. Four leaching reagents (RL, RH, OL, and OH) were systematically evaluated to optimize process parameters including liquid-to-solid ratio (L/S), leaching temperature, and reaction time. Orthogonal experimental design with three factors (L/S ratio, temperature, time) and three levels was employed to determine optimal conditions. The results indicated that OL reagent with an L/S ratio of 2.9:1 at 56.6  °C for 6.8 h achieved the best performance: total impurity content reduced to 16.98 μg/g, impurity removal efficiency reached 92.65 %, and product yield remained at 93 %. The final product met the impurity specifications of SJ/T 11386-2009 (China) for photovoltaic crucible applications, demonstrating its potential as a domestic alternative to imported HPQ. This study provides a novel reagent system and optimized process for HPQ production from pegmatitic sources. Future work should focus on scale-up verification and environmental impact assessment of the proposed process.