  We describe a new possible route to the metal-insulator transition in doped
semiconductors such as Si:P or Si:B. We explore the possibility that the loss
of metallic transport occurs through Mott localization of electrons into a
quantum spin liquid state with diffusive charge neutral "spinon" excitations.
Such a quantum spin liquid state can appear as an intermediate phase between
the metal and the Anderson-Mott insulator. An immediate testable consequence is
the presence of metallic thermal conductivity at low temperature in the
electrical insulator near the metal-insulator transition. Further we show that
though the transition is second order the zero temperature residual electrical
conductivity will jump as the transition is approached from the metallic side.
However the electrical conductivity will have a non-monotonic temperature
dependence that may complicate the extrapolation to zero temperature.
Signatures in other experiments and some comparisons with existing data are
made.
