Electronic – starting material for silicon production

manufacturing-processquartzsilicon

Where does silicon semiconductor manufacturing start from? I mean, what are the principal ores that may be used to start the technological process and what extraction process is used? (And what are the principal countries that extract such ores?)
I know that quartz sand is a common raw material for this process, but I do not manage to understand how it is obtained. In the industrial practice, is it taken from the beach, desert, or from inshore quarries? Or perhaps blocks of quartz minerals are extracted and then turned into sand by a mechanical process.
The staring material for

  • Yoo's Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology is high-quality sand
  • Quirk's Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology is pure sand
  • Geng's Semiconductor Manufacturing Handbook is quartz of quartzite
  • In May's Fundamentals of Semiconductor Manufacturing and Process Control I was unable to find a word about it.

Any suggestion about books containing more information about that subject is highly appreciated.

Best Answer

High-purity quartz is mined here.

Books:

  • The World in a Grain by Vince Beiser
  • Sand: The Never-Ending Story, by Michael Welland