Nether Quartz

Nether quartz or simply Quartz is a Nether exclusive item obtained by mining nether quartz ore (PC and Console version) or when manufactured with the Nether Reactor (Pocket Edition).

Smelting
Note that the nether quartz ore block can only be obtained with the Silk Touch enchantment.

Trivia

 * Nether quartz ore appears to be quite common, but in reality, is about as common as iron ore in the Overworld, each spawning approximately 70 ores per chunk, although it spawns in large veins similar to coal ore. It seems more common because it can spawn on almost any layer within the Nether (except the extreme upper or lower layers), the Nether has more exposed blocks than an Overworld cave, and Netherrack can be removed far more quickly than stone.


 * If the player entered the Nether before 1.5 was released, then after the update was released, nether quartz ore would only spawn in newly generated chunks. This makes it difficult to find nether quartz in old worlds.


 * Although in real life striking a quartz crystal on a piece of steel is just as effective as flint on steel (for making sparks), there seems to be no plan to implement a quartz and steel striker, possibly because gravel (thus, flint) is more common than nether quartz, so it is cheaper to use flint anyway. You even need the normal flint and steel to make the trip anyway, unless some other ignition technique is used.