News Quartz mine crucial for making chips reopens ten days after Hurricane Helene's devastation

[Admin]

The quartz mine at Spruce Pine, North Carolina, had to suspend operations after Hurricane Helene hit the area. But it's restarting production now that everyone has been accounted for, and the damage has been assessed as minor.

Quartz mine crucial for making chips reopens ten days after Hurricane Helene's devastation : Read more

 

[JTWrenn]

So if this is so crucial to the world of processor mining...why doesn't the USA leverage it against China when it comes to rare earth mineral needs? Seems like something that can't be replicated so...why not?

 

[nightbird321]

So if this is so crucial to the world of processor mining...why doesn't the USA leverage it against China when it comes to rare earth mineral needs? Seems like something that can't be replicated so...why not?

Because the only other pure quartz source is... in China.

 

[Sippincider]

Because the only other pure quartz source is... in China.

Any word on the estimated North Carolina reserves at current demand? Decades? Centuries?

Glad the people are safe and accounted for, and the mines are back running. But what happens when the mines do run out?

 

[JTWrenn]

Because the only other pure quartz source is... in China.

Couldn't find an answer to this when looking. If true, and I am not doubting you here, but if true then the reporting on this is ridiculously bad.

 

[nightbird321]

Couldn't find an answer to this when looking. If true, and I am not doubting you here, but if true then the reporting on this is ridiculously bad.

Sorry didn't see a notification, my internet source below:

How China hopes to secure its supply chain for critical minerals

China is building up domestic production of ultra-pure quartz, which is currently produced predominantly in North Carolina.

www.technologyreview.com

"[Ultra-pure quartz] is actually one example where there’ve been a lot of joint public-private efforts to develop more ultra-pure quartz capacity in China. They’re investing in domestic production because that’s one sector where North America dominates current production. [Two American companies in North Carolina] produce like 180,000 tons of ultra-pure quartz a year; [Jiangsu Pacific Quartz Products, a Chinese company] is scaling up [its capacity] this year from 5,000 to 20,000 tons; and that’s basically all of the global production."