Observations have been made on the direct current behaviour of crushed natural quartz at temperatures of the order of 1300 K in order to investigate the effect of applied electric fields on the impurities present in the samples. Migration of the alkaline impurities, leaving an alkali free layer adjacent to the anode, has been detected by analysis of the specimens. It is suggested that the electrical conduction in quartz is due almost entirely to the motion of these impurities. Finally, an estimation of a mean diffusion coefficient for these metals was made and was found to be of the order of 10−l6m2 sec−1.