Weeks After Helene Devastates North Carolina, Crucial Quartz Mines Are Working To Get Production Back on Track

Mining operations for the ultra-pure quartz at Spruce Pine, North Carolina, have yet to return to their pre-Hurricane Helene production levels. When Helene ripped through western North Carolina, it risked cutting off the global supply of some of the purest quartz on the planet. The quartz found at the small town of Spruce Pine is a vital part of the production of semiconductors, the chips that run countless electronics and appliances.Nearly three weeks after the storm devastated the region, one of the mines still has not restarted production.The Quartz Corp mining company says all its employees have been accounted for after the storm. Addressing the damage to its mining facilities, the company said a visual inspection appears to show that the “damage is mostly concentrated around ancillary units.”“It is still too early to assess when TQC will resume operations as this will also depend on the rebuilding of local infrastructure,” the company added. Still, it is confident that it can “avoid any supply disruption for our High Purity Quartz customers,” as it noted the increased “resilience planning” it implemented following the Covid-19 pandemic. “Coupled with safety stocks of finished products and those that exist at different levels throughout the supply chain, we do not anticipate any critical situation for our downstream industries in the short or medium term,” the company said.For now, the Quartz Corp says its focus is on “reconstruction and support to our community in Mitchell County that has been so deeply hurt.”Meanwhile, the other company involved in quartz mining, Sibelco, says all of its employees are safe and that it has started production again. The company is “progressively ramping up to full capacity.”Additionally, Sibelco says it has been “contributing to the local recovery efforts” by helping to repair roads and installing temporary generators for shelters and businesses.Duke Energy’s large account manager, Anderson Merritt, told CBS 17 that the power company has been working to build power lines so that the mines can be restored to operation. “They’ve got stuff on their end too that’s in need of repair, but we want to be sure that when they’re ready, we’re ready as well,” Mr. Merritt said. The quartz found at Spruce Pine is used in crucibles to melt down polysilicon to make the base of semiconductors because it can withstand the heat needed to melt the polysilicon and has a molecular structure that will not adversely react with it. Those crucibles are usually not reusable. Other parts of the world, such as Russia and Brazil, have high-quality quartz, but not as pure as that found at Spruce Pine, and the town is believed to have the largest supply in the world of the crucial mineral. The reliance on quartz has sparked warnings about what could happen if production is disrupted.In March 2024, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School studying artificial intelligence, Ethan Mollick, posted on X that the “modern economy rests on a single road” at Spruce Pine that leads to the quartz mines.WCNC at Charlotte also reported on the dependence on Spruce Pine, noting in March that “Experts believe if these mines stopped operating, it would lead to a ‘catastrophic disruption’ in the world economy that could set the entire globe back decades.”In 2008, a fire in one of the mining facilities that led to a pause in production roiled the markets. In the aftermath of Helene, several experts predicted a short-term disruption of quartz production would not have widespread consequences as companies that rely on the mineral for semiconductor production likely had a stockpile of crucibles that could offset a few weeks of delays.However, a solar analyst, Johannes Bernreuter, told NPR that a disruption that lasts “more than a few weeks” could become a “serious problem.”Even when the mines get their production fully back up and running, damaged infrastructure could make it hard to ship the quartz to its customers. The CSX rail line that runs to Spruce Pine and was the mining companies’ primary shipping method for the quartz is still closed after it was heavily damaged by Helene. CSX reported last week that it does not have an estimate for when the line will reopen.

Weeks After Helene Devastates North Carolina, Crucial Quartz Mines Are Working To Get Production Back on Track

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