The company operating a high purity quartz mine and processing facility, tucked away in a small community of Mitchell County, announced Thursday the restart of production and processing after Hurricane Helene impacts disrupted operations and set the chip industry one edge.
The Belgian company, Sibelco, specializing in specialty industrial minerals – particularly high purity quartz, silica, clays, feldspathics and olivine — previously confirmed that all employees of the Spruce Pine mine and refine operation are safe and accounted for.
In a press release, Sibelco also announced it has restarted shipments to customers and that both production and shipments are progressively ramping up to full capacity.
“I want to thank our employees for their remarkable resilience and teamwork under these extremely difficult circumstances,” said Sibelco CEO Hilmar Rode. “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.”
Earlier this week the company announced the formation of the Sibelco Spruce Pine Foundation to provide long-term support for the local community, ravaged by floods like so many other communities in western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene inundated the region with historic rainfall. They seeded the foundation with a $1 million donation.
“We are committed to supporting the communities where we operate, and this donation reflects our dedication to the Spruce Pine area,” said Rode on Monday in a statement. “Through the Sibelco Spruce Pine Foundation, we aim to ensure that our contributions have a lasting impact.”
While the devastation in western North Carolina is widespread, and the human cost still unraveling, the halting of operations at the facility garnered worldwide attention due to the technical nature of its product and the tech industries outsized reliance on these mines in particular.
The high purity quartz and ultra high purity quartz mined there represent one of the world’s largest and purest supplies of a mineral critical to manufacturing the microchips that power everything from solar panels to cell phones to AI data centers. As such, chances are high that the device on which you’re reading this article relief on Spruce Pine quartz in its hi-tech production.
The super pure quartz, sold to companies like General Electric or Owens-Corning, is used to construct the quartz crucibles needed to manufacture the silicon wafers powering our technological lives. After Helene washed away roads and rail lines, cut off power, and communications, industry observers worried a long-term disruption could reverberate through the world economy.
While its first focus was on the safety of its employees, the company reports that, with support from its contractors, it has been contributing to the local recovery efforts by clearing debris, repairing roads, providing road building materials to the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), installing temporary power generators for emergency shelters and local businesses, and working with the town of Spruce Pine to restart water supply to residents.
Speaking to the $273 million disaster recovery and relief legislation passed by the NC General Assembly Wednesday, Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Ashe, who represents the area, exclaimed that area infrastructure such as water treatment facilities were damaged beyond repair.
“This is by far the most devastating thing I’ve ever experienced,” Hise said Wednesday. “Mitchell County, the water treatment system for the entire county, both towns — it’s gone. It does not exist. It’s unsalvageable. It’s a four-year process to put a water treatment plant back in. We don’t have a temporary solution to these things right now.”
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