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.
Neither of the major companies has released a timeline on when they could possibly resume mining.
“Hurricane Helene has significantly impacted North Carolina, USA, and the Spruce Pine community has been hit particularly hard,” Sibelco said in a September 30 statement, before saying that “many people,” including their own employees and families, are facing “displacement.”
“We have confirmed the safety of most employees and are working diligently to contact those still unreachable due to ongoing power outages and communication challenges,” the company continued. “As of September 26th, we have temporarily halted operations at the Spruce Pine facilities in response to these challenges.”
“The Spruce Pine community has been hit particularly hard,” Sibelco said in a statement on Sept. 30. “We have temporarily halted operations at the Spruce Pine facilities in response to these challenges.”
In a similar October 1 statement, the Quartz Corp announced that “operations at our facilities were stopped on September 26th in preparation of the event and we have no visibility on when they will restart.”
“This is second order of priority. Our top priority remains the health and safety of our employees and their families,” company officials added, noting that they have successfully made contact with all of their Spruce Pine workers.
Hellbound and Down 