The mine, vital for making computer chips, was in the path of Hurricane Helene

• Hurricane Helene tore through North Carolina over the weekend, causing widespread devastation.
• The city of Spruce Pine was hit hard and could have global ramifications.
• Two mines are a primary source of high-purity quartz, a key material for semiconductor manufacturing.

A small North Carolina town battered by Hurricane Helene is central to the world’s semiconductor manufacturing — and one expert said any long-term damage to it risks disrupting global supply chains.

Spruce Pine is home to two mines that experts say are a key source of high-purity quartz. This crucial material is used to make the chips that power everything from smartphones to data centers.

It is unclear whether the Spruce Pine mines were affected by the hurricane that hit North Carolina over the weekend and has left more than 100 people dead in the US since it arrived last week.

But North Carolina’s live traffic map shows nearby roads affected by the storm.

“All roads in western North Carolina should be considered closed and non-emergency travel prohibited,” an alert on the state’s website said Monday.

It added: “There are many road closures that are not listed on this website as many areas are unable to report at this time.”

According to the official website of Mitchell County, which includes the city of Spruce Pine, a road a five-minute drive from the mine was partially closed “due to a partial washout.”

Spruce Pine was hit with more than two feet of rain between Tuesday and Saturday, according to the Associated Press.

A Facebook post by the county’s local government described the flooding as “catastrophic” and said a “good portion” of the county’s infrastructure had been destroyed or damaged by the floodwaters.

“Please limit unnecessary travel to conserve fuel and other resources,” the Spruce Pine Police Department wrote Sunday, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The “stick point” of the supply chain

Quartz mining sites in the city are run by two companies, Sibelco and Quartz Corp.

The two firms play a huge role in the global supply chain that ultimately ends with smartphones and state-of-the-art AI systems.

The ultra-pure quartz mined at Spruce Pine is essential for making silicon wafers, a key component of semiconductors made by Taiwanese technology firm TSMC.

On Monday, a Quartz Corp spokesman declined to comment on the impact of the hurricane and said it was too early to assess any impact on quartz production. The spokesperson added that the company’s priority is people.

Sibelco did not respond to a request for comment.

Sky News journalist and author Ed Conway, who has written a book on precious materials supply chains, described the two mines as an “incredibly” important “tipping point” in the global supply chain.

He told BI that making silicon wafers requires melting nearly pure silicon in a crucible made from high-purity quartz — the only large-scale source of which is North Carolina mines.

“It’s the only place where we’ve discovered a very large resource of this exceptionally pure quartz,” he said.

“If we don’t have access to mines for an extended period of time, then the global supply of these silicon wafers is threatened,” Conway added.