From Sand to Solar: Capturing Value Through Vertical Integration

Supply chain advantage

Traditional mining plays are vulnerable to price swings, shipping disruptions and quality inconsistencies. Vertical integration, by contrast, allows companies to capture more margin, ensure quality control and strengthen relationships with end customers. It transforms a cyclical commodity play into an industrial growth story.

Governments are increasingly supportive of this approach. In August 2025, the US proposed close to $1 billion in funding to strengthen domestic mining, processing and manufacturing of critical minerals, in a bid to reduce the country’s reliance on imports. This underscores the strategic value of companies that can deliver not just raw materials but finished products into clean energy supply chains.

Not all supply chains are created equal, however. While the more established minerals like lithium and rare earths benefit from more mature supply chains, the less popular but equally critical minerals leave much to be desired. High-purity (HPQ) silica is one of them.

The HPQ opportunity

Compared to lithium or rare earths, the supply chain for HPQ remains highly fragmented and fragile.

Most silica sand is produced and sold in raw or semi-processed form, passed between miners, processors, logistics operators and refiners before reaching solar or semiconductor customers. Each link in the chain takes a margin, while introducing risks of quality inconsistency and delivery delays.

This fragmentation creates a first-mover opportunity. Demand for HPQ is accelerating — driven by solar glass, semiconductor wafers, EV components and advanced energy storage — yet there are very few vertically integrated HPQ producers positioned to deliver directly into these growth markets.

Resource to revenue: Vertical integration in practice

In the critical minerals sector, a vertically integrated business strategy means more than just mining. It’s about controlling the entire journey of a material — from the ground, through processing and logistics, to delivery as a high-value product to end users.

By consolidating what is normally a fragmented chain of miners, processors, shippers and refiners into one seamless operation, integrated companies can capture margins at every stage, ensure tighter quality control and reduce exposure to commodity price swings.

Beyond theory, this approach is already reshaping other parts of the critical minerals market. MP Materials (NYSE:MP), for example, has transformed itself from a single rare earth mine in California into an integrated producer of magnets, supplying directly into the EV sector. Albemarle (NYSE:ALB), one of the world’s largest lithium producers, has followed a similar playbook: combining its mining assets in Chile and Australia with refining and chemical conversion facilities that produce battery-grade lithium, allowing it to lock in long-term contracts with EV and battery manufacturers.

Emerging players like Homerun Resources (TSXV:HMR,OTCQB:HMRFF,FWB:5ZE) are positioning themselves not only as miners of HPQ, but as integrated suppliers of solar glass, advanced materials and energy solutions — capturing more of the value chain while meeting the growing demand for supply security in clean energy.

Investment case study: Homerun Resources

In the high-purity silica space, Homerun Resources is demonstrating how vertical integration can transform a resource play into an industrial growth platform.

At the heart of its strategy is the Belmonte silica sand project in Bahia, Brazil, one of the world’s most exceptional HPQ deposits, with combined resources exceeding 60 million tonnes at >99.6 percent silicon dioxide (SiO2). Independent testing has achieved +99.99 percent purity, suitable for solar and semiconductor markets.

Homerun’s plan centers on a 120,000 tonne per annum (tpa) purification facility in Belmonte, through land provided under a memorandum of understanding with the State of Bahia and Municipality of Belmonte. Through other strategic partnerships, Homerun is also developing a logistics pathway for transporting HPQ from Belmonte.

Further downstream, Homerun aims to commission Latin America’s first dedicated solar glass plant in Belmonte (nameplate ~365,000 tpa). Early commercial traction includes letters of intent (LOI) — among them with Sengi Solar and Balfar Solar — totaling a minimum 120,000 tpa at ~US$750/t, plus an umbrella LOI up to the full 365,000 tpa, all aligned to project milestones. Brazil’s recent import duty hike on solar modules to 25 percent underscores the strategic logic to localize solar inputs such as glass.

Beyond HPQ and glass, Homerun’s plan extends into perovskite PV (via Halocell) and particle‑based thermal energy storage, in collaboration with the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, with complementary work at UC Davis on chemical‑free laser purification of raw sand to >99.99 percent SiO2.

Homerun’s vertical integration strategy transforms the company from a simple mining story to a diversified advanced materials company with multiple profit centers — presenting a strong investment case.

Investor takeaway

In critical minerals, the real value lies in controlling the full supply chain — not just the resource. Vertical integration allows companies to capture more margin, ensure quality and reduce vulnerability to commodity price swings. It’s why integrated players in lithium and rare earths have pulled ahead of upstream-only peers.

For investors, high-purity silica represents a similar opportunity. The supply chain is still fragmented, yet demand is growing rapidly from solar, semiconductors and energy storage. The companies that succeed in consolidating production and delivering high-value products directly to end markets will be best positioned to benefit from both market growth and policy tailwinds favoring resilient, localized supply.

This INNSpired article is sponsored by Homerun Resources (TSXV:HMR,OTCQB:HMRFF,FWB:5ZE). This INNSpired article provides information which was sourced by the Investing News Network (INN) and approved by Homerun Resources in order to help investors learn more about the company. Homerun Resources is a client of INN. The company’s campaign fees pay for INN to create and update this INNSpired article.

This INNSpired article was written according to INN editorial standards to educate investors.

INN does not provide investment advice and the information on this profile should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. INN does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company profiled.

The information contained here is for information purposes only and is not to be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Readers should conduct their own research for all information publicly available concerning the company. Prior to making any investment decision, it is recommended that readers consult directly with Homerun Resources and seek advice from a qualified investment advisor.