{"id":28980,"date":"2025-08-26T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cit.upc.edu\/?post_type=portfolio&p=28980"},"modified":"2026-05-06T13:12:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T13:12:43","slug":"queen-efficient-and-sustainable-production-of-metallurgical-silicon-from-quartz-sand-sourced-from-local-quarries","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/cit.upc.edu\/en\/portfolio-item\/queen-efficient-and-sustainable-production-of-metallurgical-silicon-from-quartz-sand-sourced-from-local-quarries\/","title":{"rendered":"QUEEN: Efficient and Sustainable Production of Metallurgical Silicon from Quartz Sand Sourced from Local Quarries"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

26\/08\/2025
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Researchers from the Universitat Polit\u00e8cnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC) are participating in the Quartz Enrichment Enabling Near-Zero Silicon (QUEEN) project, aimed at reducing the European Union\u2019s dependence on external sources for critical raw materials, particularly metallurgical-grade silicon (MG-Si). To achieve this, the project proposes harnessing an underused resource: quartz sand from European quarries, to produce MG-Si locally, sustainably, and efficiently.<\/h4>
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The project tackles a major challenge: the EU\u2019s heavy reliance on external sources for critical raw materials, especially metallurgical silicon. Currently, over 80% of MG-Si \u2014essential for high-tech applications and the EU\u2019s sustainability goals\u2014 is imported mainly from China.

The overarching goal of the QUEEN<\/a> project is to develop an environmentally friendly process to produce metallurgical silicon from quarry sands, with near-zero CO\u2082 emissions and by making use of residual materials. This transformative approach could turn any EU quartz quarry into a potential MG-Si reserve. Moreover, the technologies developed could be adapted to other materials.

A new mineral separation process will be designed based on froth flotation using sustainably sourced reagents to extract quartz from quarry sands, offering a more efficient and environmentally friendly alternative for refining high-purity quartz, while recovering calcite and feldspars as by-products.

From UPC, the participating groups include the Sustainable Mining Research Group (GREMS), the project coordinator; the Research Group on Intelligent and Sustainable Resources and Industries (RIIS); the Smart Sustainable Resources Research Centre (SSR-UPC); and the Research Centre for Supervision, Safety and Automatic Control (CS2AC-UPC). Also involved are the University Institute for Research in River Dynamics and Hydrological Engineering (FLUMEN), the Intelligent and Secure ICT Systems Research Group (SINAPSI), the Service and Industrial Robotics \u2013 Operation, Production and Enterprise Group (SIR-OPE), and the Service and Industrial Robotics Group (SIR).

UPC\u2019s main role is the development and pilot-scale validation of the new separation process, in collaboration with industrial partners that produce biological reagents for use in the process. The market value of quartz depends on its purity, and this technology is expected to allow companies access to higher-value markets.

Impact<\/h4>

The QUEEN project is expected to have a strong economic, social and environmental impact. It aims to cover 56% of the EU\u2019s MG-Si demand by 2032. In addition to reducing import dependence, the project anticipates recovering over 300 million tonnes of MG-Si from sand and saving 232 billion tonnes of CO\u2082.

It will also help reduce the EU\u2019s reliance on imported quartz by 714,000 tonnes, create 440 new jobs, and generate an estimated gross profit increase of \u20ac140 million.

From an environmental and technological perspective, the project seeks to improve resource efficiency by 30% and set new benchmarks in line with the EU\u2019s critical raw materials strategy.

Partners, Budget and Funding<\/h4>

The QUEEN project involves 14 partners from 8 EU countries.

Funded under the Horizon Europe programme, the project has a total budget of \u20ac7,294,162.27 and is expected to run for four years (November 2024 – October 2028).
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To achieve this, the project proposes harnessing an underused resource: quartz sand from European quarries, to produce MG-Si locally, sustainably, and efficiently.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":28971,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"portfolio-types":[384,388,241],"class_list":["post-28980","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolio-types-construccion-en","portfolio-types-economia-circular-en","portfolio-types-tecnologias-de-los-materiales-en"],"yoast_head":"\nQUEEN: Sustainable metallurgical silicon from local quartz sand - CIT UPC<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Researchers from the UPC are participating in the Quartz Enrichment Enabling Near-Zero Silicon (QUEEN) project, aimed at reducing the European Union\u2019s dependence on external sources for critical raw materials, particularly metallurgical-grade silicon (MG-Si). 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