Essential North Carolina quartz mine is up and working following Hurricane Helene

Sibelco, one of many firms mining high-purity quartz in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, has resumed operations. In an replace on Thursday, the corporate stated that manufacturing and shipments of the quartz, which is essential to the chipmaking course of, are “progressively ramping as much as full capability.”

Spruce Pine has the one naturally occurring quartz on this planet that’s pure sufficient to make use of as a crucible throughout the chip manufacturing course of. Up to now, some consultants warned that any disruption to Spruce Pine quartz mining operations might have large impacts on the availability chain for the chips that go into telephones, computer systems, photo voltaic panels, and different units.

The Quartz Corp, which additionally mines high-purity quartz in Spruce Pine, paused operations on September twenty sixth. Regardless of this, it stated it didn’t count on any “vital state of affairs” for industries utilizing the quartz attributable to current inventory and completed merchandise all through the availability chain.

“Whereas the highway to full restoration for our communities shall be lengthy, restarting our operations and resuming shipments to prospects are necessary contributors to rebuilding the native financial system,” Sibelco CEO Hilmar Rode stated within the press launch.