High-purity quartz has officially become China's 174th mineral type, as several deposits of the valuable mineral have been discovered in the country, the Ministry of Natural Resources announced on Thursday.
High-purity quartz has high-temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, low thermal expansion, high insulation, and light transmittance, and can be processed and purified to obtain silicon dioxide with a purity of no less than 99.995 percent.
Silicon dioxide is in high demand in high-tech industries such as semiconductors and photovoltaics, according to Mao Jingwen, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
An official from the Ministry of Natural Resources said that deposits of high-purity quartz have been discovered in several regions, including the eastern part of the Qinling Mountains in central China's Henan Province and Altay in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The discovery of these deposits is part of a new round of strategic actions aimed at achieving breakthroughs in mineral prospecting.
Globally, high-purity quartz mines are primarily distributed in countries including the United States, Russia, Norway, and Australia.
The designation of the new mineral type is important for its protection and development and is also significant for ensuring the security of the country's high-tech industry and supply chains, according to the official.
China establishes new mineral type vital for high-tech industries
Authorities in southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region have been implementing public wellbeing programs to ensure a good start to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), as high-quality public service resources continue to reach grassroots communities.
The Xizang Hospital, being built under the auspices of the West China Second University Hospital of Sichuan University, which was included in the fourth batch of national regional medical center projects in October 2022, is under construction.
Once operational, it will save local residents' trips to other provinces for medical treatment, effectively addressing the shortage of high-quality medical resources in the region.
During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, the regional government will make simultaneous efforts to increase the income of urban and rural residents, optimize basic public services, and broaden employment channels. It will also ensure that the number of families with no employed members is steadily reduced to zero, promote work-relief programs, and increase new urban employment opportunities.
Meanwhile, Xizang will step up the construction of county-level medical and health consortia, achieve full coverage of public childcare services at the prefecture level, and improve education, medical care, elderly care, and childcare services.
"We will continue to take improving people's livelihood and rallying people's support as our ultimate objectives, focusing on increasing employment and people's income, improving education quality, medical and health care, social security, elderly care, and childcare services, so that the achievements of building a new modern socialist Xizang can benefit more people in a fair manner," said Wang Jingcai, deputy director of the regional development and reform commission.
Authorities in Xizang roll out public wellbeing programs to ensure good start to 15th Five-Year Plan
