SPRUCE PINE — One of the two companies that manufacture high-purity quartz used for making semiconductors and other high-tech products from mines in a western North Carolina community severely damaged by Hurricane Helene has resumed operations.
Sibelco announced last Thursday that production has restarted at its mining and processing operations in Spruce Pine in Mitchel County.
Sibelco and The Quartz Corp. both shut down operations in the area ahead of the storm that swept away whole communities in the western part of the state, including Chimney Rock, and across the border in East Tennessee. The small town is home to mines that produce some of the world’s highest quality quartz. With increasing global demand, Sibelco announced last year that it would invest $200 million to double capacity at Spruce Pine.
Since the devastation to the community from Helene, Sibelco and The Quartz Corp. had simply been working to confirm that all of its employees were safe and accounted for, according to a statement, as some were “unreachable due to ongoing power outages and communication challenges.”
Mining production and shipments are now progressively ramping up to full capacity, the company said in a news release. “While the road to full recovery for our communities will be long, restarting our operations and resuming shipments to customers are important contributors to rebuilding the local economy,” Sibelco CEO Hilmar Rode said.
Following the storm, which destroyed countless homes and businesses, both companies said that all of their employees were accounted for and safe.
The Quartz Corp. had said last week that it was too early to know exactly when it would resume operations, adding it would depend on the rebuilding of local infrastructure.
Spruce Pine quartz is used around the world to manufacture the equipment needed to make silicon chips. An estimated 70% to 90% of the crucibles used worldwide in which polysilicon used for the chips is melted down are made from Spruce Pine quartz, according to Vince Beiser, the author of “The World in a Grain.”
The high-tech quartz is also used in manufacturing solar panels and fiber-optic cables.
A Spruce Pine council member said recently that an estimated three-quarters of the town has a direct connection to the mines, whether through a job, a job that relies on the mines or a family member who works at the facilities.
