Operations at a crucial facility for the semiconductor industry in North Carolina have now been stopped for five days as the state recovers from the devastation brought on by the remnants of Hurricane Helene over the weekend.
The mines, located in Spruce Pine, North Carolina (around 50 miles northeast of Asheville, North Carolina), are home to some of the purest quartz, which is a critical input in semiconductor production. While quartz mines can be found across the world, geologists and researchers have said that nothing truly rivals the quality of the materials found in western North Carolina.
Belgian mineral company Sibelco owns the largest mine found in the area. The company confirmed to The News and Observer on Monday that its facility had been closed since Thursday, when the hurricane first touched down in Florida.
While Helene swiftly weakened to a post-tropical cyclone, it wreaked havoc across Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and eastern Tennessee.
“The hurricane has caused widespread flooding, power outages, communication disruptions, and damage to critical infrastructure in the area,” Sibelco told the local outlet. “Many people in the area, including our employees and their families, are facing displacement and significant disruptions.”
The Quartz Corp, which also owns a mine in Spruce Pine, has said its operations have been halted.
“Operations at our facilities were stopped on September 26th in preparation of the event and we have no visibility on when they will restart,” the company said in a statement. “This is second order of priority. Our top priority remains the health and safety of our employees and their families.”
Given the rare quality of the quartz found in Spruce Pine, damage to the mines could harm the semiconductor industry.
The quartz mined in the state is primarily used in producing molten silicon bases for semiconductor wafers found in chips that are later installed in phones, laptops, solar panels, satellite systems, and other popular electronics.
It remains unclear how long production will be disrupted by Helene. But history has shown it doesn’t take much to disrupt the mines. In 2008, a fire broke out at a quartz refinery in Spruce Pine, temporarily halting production. The event “all but shut off the supply of high‑purity quartz to the world market, sending shivers through the industry,” according to a Wired report.
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As of Tuesday, more than 10,000 homes and businesses were without power in Mitchell County, where the mines are located, according to PowerOutage.us.
Many roads in the area were considered “impassable” due to flooding and downed trees and power lines, according to The News and Observer.