China has discovered a new source of high-purity quartz in its western Tibet autonomous region, potentially reducing its reliance on imports of the critical material to make solar panels and semiconductors.High-purity quartz is a gold standard manufacturing material for numerous hi-tech items, including some whose global market is dominated by China.China has relied on imports to obtain the important material, with most coming from the United States, because of a lack of domestic sources for the rare quartz. But recent geological discoveries could help China rewrite that dependence. What are rare earths, and why is China’s dominance facing global pushback“This…