The quartz mines of Spruce Pine, North Carolina, part of the global computer chip supply chain, have suspended their operations due to the damage and aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
Mines located in the town include a facility owned by The Quartz Corporation and another owned by Belgium-based Sibelco. The quartz is used to make crucibles, which in turn are used to create semiconductors and other microchip components.
Quartz Corp. said in a release that its operations stopped Thursday, and that “we have no visibility on when they will restart. This is the second order of priority. Our top priority remains the health and safety of our employees and their families.”
Sibelco also halted work on Thursday, and said its officials “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 high quality of the Spruce Pine quartz makes it even more important, as chips made with the quartz resist heat and corrosion, transmit light and maintain insulation well, and also have a lower rate of expanding under high temperatures, according to tech publication Wired.
“Purity really does matter. You’re talking about a process to create the silicon wafers that later become silicon chips, where one single atom being in the wrong place” could ruin the manufacturing process, Ed Conway, author of “Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization,” told NPR.
There have been almost 150 deaths confirmed from Hurricane Helene thus far across six states. Half of those deaths were in North Carolina, with mountain communities, including Spruce Pine, among the most affected, according to The Associated Press.
Mitchell County officials wrote on Facebook that the storm produced “a catastrophic 500-year flood” that knocked out electricity, cell and internet service, and a variety of local infrastructure.
From Wednesday through Friday, Spruce Pine saw more than two feet of rainfall, according to the North Carolina State Climate Office. The state climate office, based at North Carolina State University, noted that some river gauges measured higher water levels than during a 1916 flood caused by a tropical storm.
Appalachian communities were harder hit because the warm air of the hurricane met colder mountain air that produced even more rain. In addition, the ground was already saturated and many communities rest in valleys vulnerable to flooding, National Weather Service meteorologist Christiaan Patterson told the AP.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.