Breaking from @hntrbrkmedia- An essential node of the global semiconductor industry, nestled in the mountains of North Carolina, has been hit hard by Hurricane Helene
Images reveal a flooded entrance to a mine that produces high-purity quartz to manufacture most semiconductors.
Images reveal a flooded entrance to a mine that produces high-purity quartz to manufacture most semiconductors.
A massive humanitarian and economic disaster slammed the lower Appalachians this weekend, as dozens of inches of rain fell in some places, causing massive flooding in the region. Thousands remain missing, while countless others remain cut off.
Although it is one of Earth’s most common minerals, quartz in its purest form — such as the white quartz in North Carolina — is much rarer. And pure quartz is a critical component of the silicon wafers necessary for everything from your phone and computer to large language models and solar panels.
The small town of Spruce Pine is home to a set of facilities that supply between an estimated 70% and 90% of the mined and processed HPQ used in the electronics industry.
Experts have said that if the operations of the two major quartz miners in the region — Sibelco and The Quartz Corp. — are interrupted, the consequences could be catastrophic.
Asked whether the storm had impacted operations, Sibelco did not immediately respond to Hunterbrook’s request for comment. In a statement to The Verge, which reported on this story earlier today, The Quartz Corp, another company in the region, said: “We are in a phase of assessing the situation and it is far too early to comment on the impact to high purity quartz production.”
Dr. Yinan Wang, a geologist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, told Hunterbrook that even if other high-quality quartz mines were found elsewhere in the near future, it would take several months to build the kind of facility necessary to refine the material.
“There’s an entire procedure or process you need to do,” Wang said. “All of this is closely guarded secrets by Sibelco, who owns the mine.”
“There’s an entire procedure or process you need to do,” Wang said. “All of this is closely guarded secrets by Sibelco, who owns the mine.”
Seen here, one video posted to TikTok appears to show the entrance of SCR Sibelco NV’s School House Mine underwater from the nearby flooding North Toe River.
Hunterbrook’s review of imagery indicates the neighboring Hawkins Mine is now cut off by rail from both the north and south, with multiple washouts and catastrophic damage to CSX’s Blue Ridge line north of Spruce Pine.
CSX, the company that operates the rail system, issued a customer advisory on September 29 — stating that Spruce Pine was “experiencing significant flooding and bridge damage, leading to a major outage.”
The CSX rail bridge crossing the Nolichucky River at Poplar, North Carolina, after floodwaters began to recede, was reduced to its pilings (36.082675, -82.350598).
A heavily damaged section of CSX’s Blue Ridge line rests in the North Toe River outside of Bakersville, North Carolina (36.016008, -82.199417).
More than 100 power lines in Spruce Pine are down with many residents and businesses still without electricity, according to the regional electricity provider Duke Energy’s website and posts on the ground. Duke has said certain areas were so badly hit, “we’re going to have to completely rebuild parts of our system.”
Due to the war in Ukraine and other supply chain pressures, lead times for replacement grid components have skyrocketed. On average, transformer lead times currently sit at 120 weeks.
Based on Hunterbrook Media’s reporting, Hunterbrook Capital is long Ferroglobe Plc (NASDAQ: $GSM) and Nordic Mining ASA (Oslo: $NOM) at the time of publication. Positions may change at any time.
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