SPRUCE PINE, N.C. â Flooding in a small town in Mitchell County, North Carolina, could send shockwaves through the global semiconductor industry.
Spruce Pine is a town of 2,200 residents. It's also the site of the world's highest quality quartz deposits, a major component of the tiny chips that power everything from smartphones to cars.
Helene and its precursor rains dumped between 20 and 25 inches of rain in in the Spruce Pine area, according to WCNC Weather Impact Chief Meteorologist Brad Panovich. Mitchell County leaders said Sunday that rain led to a "catastrophic 500-year flood," damaging or destroying "a good bit of the county infrastructure."
Quartz producers Sibelco and The Quartz Corp paused operations at their respective facilities on September 26th in preparations for Helene. As of Tuesday, there is no timeline for restarting production for either company.
The quartz mined in Spruce Pine is used for fused quartz crucibles and tubing. Those are used to create fabricated quartzware for the semiconductor wafer process.
"Many people in the area, including our employees and their families, are facing displacement and significant disruptions," Sibelco officials wrote in a release Monday.
"It is a dramatic situation for the region," May Kristin Haugen, the head of communication for The Quartz Corp wrote in a release Tuesday. "Our teams are joining the local taskforces to try to restore the most basic services and bring further supplies to Spruce Pine."
According to Sibelco, geologists believe that the mining district in Spruce Pine was created about 380 million years ago when Africa collided with North America. That collision, caused intense friction and heat, creating rich mineral-forming liquid that cooled and crystallized overtime.
For those who want to help, WCNC Charlotte has partnered with the American Red Cross to help gather donations to go to efforts that will help people impacted by Helene and with the nonprofit Operation Airdrop to get much-needed supplies to the mountain counties. Here's how you can help people impacted by Helene.