Project Overview
Silex’s Q-Si Production Project, which commenced in August 2023, is being undertaken in conjunction with initial offtake partner, Silicon Quantum Computing Pty Ltd (SQC), and UNSW Sydney (UNSW). The Project will result in the establishment of world’s first laser-based enrichment plant to produce highly enriched silicon-28. The ~3.5-year Project is supported with $5.1 million in funding from the Federal Government’s Defence Trailblazer for Concept to Sovereign Capability program and a cash contribution of $4.35 million from SQC. In June 2026, construction of the silicon enrichment plant (the Q-Si Production Plant) at our facility in Sydney was completed, with final plant commissioning activities to be completed late CY2026.
The initial Q-Si Production Plant will produce up to 20kg of Q-Si annually (depending on several factors, such as market demand and customer purity requirements), which will be converted into gaseous and solid product forms, as required by various customers in around the world.
Enriched silicon-28 in the form of high-purity Q-Si is required for next-generation silicon-based quantum computers being developed by advanced semiconductor companies around the world. Quantum computers could revolutionise the computing industry by providing an immense increase in computing power, when compared with today’s most advanced classical chips.
Q-Si products are used by silicon-based quantum computing developers as the substrate material for the fabrication of ‘nuclear spin’ qubits – the building blocks of quantum computers, akin to transistor devices in classical silicon chips, but on a much smaller atomic scale. Silex has been working with its first commercial offtake partner, SQC, to qualify Q-Si products with the highest possible levels of isotopic and chemical purity. Increasing levels of engagement with other potential customers offshore continues. Silex retains 100% ownership of the Q-Si production technology and related Intellectual Property (IP) developed through the Project.
In parallel with the completion of the construction and final commissioning of the initial Q-Si Production Plant, a full economic assessment of the Q-Si business case will be completed. The Q-Si Project remains dependent on the outcomes of the latest development Project and the viability of silicon quantum computing and therefore continues to carry inherent risks.
