On June 10th, Canada added silicon metal to its critical minerals list.
The Canadian Minister of Natural Resources emphasized the significance of critical minerals as the building blocks for the green and digital economy. There is no energy transition without critical minerals: no batteries, no electric cars, no wind turbines, and no solar panels.
This latest update to the list highlights the growing importance of silicon metal in modern technologies. The move will offer greater certainty for Canadian mining and manufacturing businesses while further building out the nation’s capacity to meet the growing global demand for silicon.
HPQ, with the support of world-class technology partners, is developing new and proven green processes crucial for producing critical materials such as silicon, which are essential to achieving net-zero emissions.
Specifically, the company's PUREVAP™ QRR represents a significant breakthrough in silicon production. Unlike traditional methods, which require large-scale facilities for their multi-stage, energy-intensive, and polluting processes, the PUREVAP™ process is a small-footprint, scalable method that can efficiently convert raw quartz into high-purity silicon metal in a single step.