North Carolina maker of high-purity quartz back operating post-Helene

SPARREN, NC — One of two companies producing high-purity quartz used to make semiconductors and other high-tech products from mines in a western North Carolina community severely damaged by Hurricane Helene is back in operation.

Sibelco announced Thursday that production has resumed at its mining and processing operations in Spruce Pine, 50 miles northeast of Asheville. Production and shipments are gradually 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 will make an important contribution to rebuilding the local economy,” said Hilmar Rode, CEO of Sibelco.

Sibelco and The Quartz Corp. suspend operations prior to the arrival of Helene, who devastated Spruce Pine and surrounding Mitchell County. After the storm, both companies said all their employees were safe.

Quartz Corp. had said last week that it was too early to know when it would resume operations, adding that this would depend on rebuilding local infrastructure.

Spruce 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 that melt polysilicon used for the chips are made of spruce-pine quartz, according to Vince Beiser, the author of “The World in a Grain.”

The high-tech quartz is also used in the production of solar panels and fiber optic cables.

A Spruce Pine council member recently said that an estimated three-quarters of the city has a direct connection to the mines, either through a job, a job dependent on the mines or a family member who works at the facilities.