Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners’ plan to construct a “state-of-the-art” polysilicon manufacturing plant in Australia is a step ahead, with Australian Silica Quartz starting a program to drill a deliberate mine website that may present feedstock for the proposed facility.
From pv journal Australia
Australian Silica Quartz (ASQ) has launched an exploration drilling program at its Quartz Hill venture website in Queensland, Australia, with the goal of creating a metallurgical-grade silicon useful resource that might function feedstock for Quinbrook’s proposed AUD 7.8 billion ($5.22 billion) polysilicon plant.
Quinbrook plans to construct a polysilicon manufacturing facility close to Townsville, Queensland. The firm goals to make use of domestically sourced silica quartz to provide polysilicon to be used in photo voltaic panels, in addition to battery expertise.
The set up, which was declared a defined venture by the state authorities earlier this yr, is earmarked for Townsville’s Lansdown eco-industrial precinct. Townsville City Council has allotted Quinbrook a website in Lansdown, topic to growth timelines. Quinbrook additionally plans to construct a big photo voltaic and battery storage venture on land adjoining to Lansdown to make use of the manufacturing facility.
The proposed venture has now progressed, with ASQ commencing subsurface exploration work within the Quartz Hill space west of Townsville, the place it hopes to determine a quartz mineral useful resource of not less than 10 million tonnes.
ASQ stated the exploration drilling program marks the beginning of ongoing work deliberate within the space beneath a brand new venture growth heads of settlement with Quinbrook subsidiary Private Energy Partners (PEP).
Under the phrases of the deal, ASQ obtained AUD 1 million from PEP to assist fund the exploration drilling program and a scoping examine. In return, PEP acquired the best to buy as much as 10 million tonnes of metallurgical grade silicon quartz at a ten% low cost to the market value to produce Quinbrook’s proposed polysilicon manufacturing facility.
ASQ stated the drilling program is predicted to take about two weeks to finish and chosen samples will probably be analyzed for hint geochemistry and different bodily properties particular to metallurgical grade silicon quartz lump feedstock purposes. The firm stated earlier testing of samples from the north Queensland website returned outcomes of as much as 99.99% silicon dioxide after an acid wash.
Polysilicon is a fundamental constructing block for photo voltaic panels and whereas Australia has an abundance of silicon within the type of quartz, it at the moment doesn’t produce any polysilicon.
When Quinbrook’s proposed Project Green Poly was declared a “prescribed venture,” Queensland Development and Infrastructure Minister Grace Grace stated it might create one of many first built-in mine-to-production polysilicon provide chains in Australia.
“This venture plans to place Townsville on the middle of a brand new international provide chain for polysilicon wafers,” he stated. “It will do all the things from mining north Queensland quartz and processing it into polysilicon wafers to supplying native and international producers and markets. Project Green Poly will create the Queensland-based polysilicon provide chain the world must broaden photo voltaic and battery vitality technology.
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