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From Breitbart: The devastation in a small North Carolina down from Hurricane Helene may cause unexpected issues to the semiconductor production industry, as nearly all of the world’s supply of a necessary mineral comes from that area.
The “purest form” of quartz is mined in Spruce Pine, which has a population of just 2,600 people, according to CNBC.
With the town’s electricity and running water still out more than a week after the storm and raging flood waters ripped through the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the $600 billion global semiconductor industry may be crippled, the outlet reported.
Before Helene, companies like Sibelco and The Quartz Corp. extracted the high-quality quartz before refining it and shipping it to global manufacturing facilities, primarily in China and other Asian countries.
Those operations have all been placed on pause as the Appalachian community grapples with getting basic necessities such as food and water.
In separate statements, both Sibelco and The Quartz Corp. have announced that they have no idea yet when they will be able to resume operations.
CNBC explained in their report that once the companies determine whether there has been any damage to the quartz mines themselves or the equipment they use, there still exists another problem: how will they transport their product out to market, since the roads are all gone?
TECHCET CEO Lita Shon-Roy warned, “This is the only plant in the world right now that serves the semiconductor industry in its entirety. f something were to happen to these mines, it can put the entire industry on its ear, period. There’s no other capability.”
How a tiny town hit by Helene could upend the global semiconductor chip industry https://t.co/noIOh0G1rj
— CNBC (@CNBC) October 3, 2024
The modern economy rests on a single road in North Carolina where Helene collapsed most bridges to Spruce Pine, NC.
A single road runs to two mines that are sole supplier of the quartz required for Czochralski Crucibles needed to refine silicon wafers. There are no alternative… pic.twitter.com/mUX9WWvoaF
— Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored) October 1, 2024
Hurricane Helene Destroys NC Town Containing ‘Purest’ Quartz Mines, Disrupting Semiconductor Industry https://t.co/mu7MWwOtZP
— Steve Ferguson (@lsferguson) October 6, 2024
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