(Yicai Global) July 6 -- Shares in Flat Glass Group soared by as much as 5.1 percent in Hong Kong today after China’s second-largest photovoltaic glass maker said that it has successfully bid CNY3.3 billion (USD492 million) for the mining rights to a quartzite mine in order to safeguard its raw material supply.

Flat’s Hong Kong-traded stock [HKG:6865] was trading up 4.5 percent at HKD28.70 (USD3.66) as of 1 p.m. China time. Earlier in the day it hit HKD28.85. On the mainland, its share price [SHA:601865] was trading up 0.98 percent at CNY37.26 (USD5.50). Earlier in the day it advanced 4.6 percent to CNY38.66.

Flat has secured the mining rights to a quartzite mine in Fengyang county, eastern Anhui province, for the next 24 years, the Jiaxing, eastern Zhejiang province-based company said yesterday. Located near one of its production bases, the mine has proven and probable resources of 1.1 billion tons of quartzite, a key material used to produce the quartz sand needed in PV glass.

Quartz sand has become highly sought after in recent years as mining supervision gets stricter together with a big jump in demand.

Flat has rolled out two major capacity expansion plants in Anhui and Zhejiang provinces this year already and is making sure it has ample raw material supply. In February, it bought two mineral companies with quartz sand mining rights in Fengyang county for CNY3.3 billion (USD492 million). The two firms have an annual output of 6.6 million tons, enough to produce 20,000 tons of solar glass a day, it said at the time.

As of the end of last year, Flat, which operates three bases in Zhejiang and Anhui provinces as well as Vietnam, had a daily output of 12,200 tons of PV glass, with a 30 percent share of the domestic market. And more capacity is expected to come online this year.

Editor: Kim Taylor