The devastation caused by Hurricane Helene could have an unforeseen impact on semiconductor chip manufacturing. As a result of the hurricane, two North Carolina mines, which produce high-purity quartz, were forced to shut down. The mines, which are managed by Sibelco and The Quartz Corp, produce quartz that is essential for the production of semiconductor chips and solar panels.
The Associated Press spoke with Vince Beiser, author of “The World in a Grain,” about the importance of these mines to the semiconductor industry. “To make silicon chips, you need to first melt down a highly-purified material called polysilicon. That can only be done in crucibles that are themselves made of a material so pure it will not react chemically with the polysilicon and is also able to withstand enormous heat. The best material for those crucibles is ultra-pure quartz. Spruce Pine is the source of the purest natural quartz ever found on Earth.”
Sibelco recently released a statement on the aftermath of the hurricane, stating that the company has “confirmed the safety of most employees and are working diligently to contact those still unreachable due to ongoing power outages and communication challenges.” Despite suspending production on September 26, Sibelco remains optimistic about its operations. “Please rest assured that Sibelco is actively collaborating with government agencies and third-party rescue and recovery operations to mitigate the impact of this event and to resume operations as soon as possible. Our top priority remains the health, safety, and well-being of our employees, as well as ensuring the security of the Spruce Pine facility.”
The Quartz Corp also released a statement verifying that all of its employees had been accounted for and were safe. The company also spoke to the state of its facility. “We have been able to conduct the first visual inspections of our plants and it would appear that damage is mostly concentrated around ancillary units. It is still too early to assess when TQC will resume operations as this will also depend on the rebuilding of local infrastructure.”
Despite the disruption, The Quartz Corp remains confident in its ability to avoid major supply chain disruptions. “We operate a long supply chain and like many organisations we added more focus on our resilience planning post-Covid. As a result, we have established strong levels of feed stock in Norway to supply our purification operations. Coupled with safety stocks of finished products and those that exist at different levels throughout the supply chain, we do not anticipate any critical situation for our downstream industries in the short or medium term.”
In a recent CNN article, authors Clare Duffy and Dianne Gallagher speculate on the impact of the hurricane on semiconductor supply chains. “Some chip manufacturers may have up to several weeks’ supply of high-purity quartz to be able to continue production, but a longer shutdown at the mines will likely mean chip shortages. In some cases, purifying regular quartz can be used as an alternative, but the world doesn’t have the capacity to do that purification in high enough quantities to make up for the loss of Spruce Pine.”