![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/04191800\/SEI_224418915.jpg\")
<\/div>Constructing a semiconductor chip<\/p>\n
IM Imagery\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n
The deadliest hurricane to strike the US mainland since Hurricane Katrina has also drawn attention for its potential disruptions to the tech industry. Destruction from Hurricane Helene is threatening one of the industry\u2019s major supply chains \u2013 a North Carolina mining town that supplies high-purity quartz crucial for manufacturing the chips found in smartphones and data centres worldwide.<\/p>\n
The mining town of Spruce Pine is among the many US communities impacted by Hurricane Helene, which killed more than 200 people in multiple states, displaced thousands and left more than a million homes and businesses without power. The storm pushed 900 kilometres inland from the Florida coast and inflicted deadly floods across a wide region, even reaching deep within the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina, where the Spruce Pine quartz mines are located.<\/p>\n
Here is what you need to know about how Helene\u2019s ripple effects could impact the tech industry.<\/p>\n
Why is high-purity quartz so important?<\/h2>\n
High-purity quartz is used to make fused-quartz crucibles<\/a>, cylindrical containers that are key to the chip-manufacturing process because they can endure the high temperatures required to melt silicon. The melting-point temperature for semiconductor-grade polysilicon is around 1425\u00b0C (2597\u00b0F), and quartz crucibles can typically withstand temperatures of up to 1650\u00b0C (3000\u00b0F).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the chip manufacturing process, the fused-quartz crucibles are filled with molten silicon. A silicon seed crystal is dipped into the melted silicon within the spinning crucible so that it can grow into a significantly larger silicon ingot before being gradually drawn out. A fully grown ingot can weigh over 500 kilograms.<\/p>\n Those silicon ingots are then cut into silicon wafers, which in turn can be imprinted with the transistor patterns that form the foundation of modern computer chips.<\/p>\n The natural deposits of quartz found in Spruce Pine originated when North America and Africa collided to form the supercontinent Pangaea<\/a> about 300 million years ago. That process created the Appalachian mountains and also forced part of Earth\u2019s oceanic crust to sink beneath North America, where the intense heat and pressure near the planet\u2019s mantle melted ocean sediment and rock.<\/p>\n The resulting lava slowly cooled over time to form pegmatite rock deposits containing large mineral crystals \u2013 including high-purity quartz. These pegmatite formations eventually became more accessible near the surface because of more geological upheaval and weathering.<\/p>\n The Spruce Pine mining district<\/a> currently has quartz mining and refining operations owned by Belgium-based Sibelco and Norway-based The Quartz Corp. Both companies shut down operations on 26 September and have not yet said when they might restart.<\/p>\n The companies say they have confirmed the safety of their employees and contractors in the area \u2013 and they described relatively minimal direct damage to their facilities.<\/p>\n \u201cThe initial assessment indicates that our operating facilities in the Spruce Pine region have only sustained minor damage,\u201d said Sibelco in a 3 October statement<\/a>. \u201cOur dedicated teams are on-site, conducting cleanup and repair activities to restart operations as soon as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n Hurricane Helene caused record flooding and damage<\/p>\n Melissa Sue Gerrits\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been able to conduct the first visual inspections of our plants and it would appear that damage is mostly concentrated around ancillary units,\u201d said The Quartz Corp in a statement<\/a> on 2 October. But the company also cautioned that resumption of mining operations \u201cwill also depend on the rebuilding of local infrastructure\u201d \u2013 many of the roads in the area were closed and damaged in the immediate wake of the storm.<\/p>\n Similarly, Sibelco referenced power outages from the storm as one challenge. \u201cRestoring power remains crucial to resuming our operations,\u201d said the company in its statement. \u201cThe repair of power lines leading to our plants has progressed significantly.\u201d<\/p>\n The Quartz Corp also described having stockpiles of quartz in Norway that could be used in ongoing purification processing operations, along with additional \u201csafety stocks of finished products\u201d that could avoid any critical shortages for customers \u2013 including semiconductor manufacturers \u2013 in the short or medium term.<\/p>\n Major semiconductor manufacturers have said that they currently do not expect disruptions to their operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.<\/p>\n TSMC, a Taiwanese company that is the world\u2019s leading chip maker, described having \u201cdiverse global suppliers\u201d to draw upon. \u201cThrough an effective risk management system and close partnerships with suppliers, we currently do not anticipate any significant impact on the company\u2019s operations,\u201d says a TSMC spokesperson. \u201cWe will keep monitoring the situation closely.\u201d<\/p>\n Samsung Electronics, which ranks as the second largest chip maker and is headquartered in South Korea, told New Scientist <\/em>that the company\u2019s operations were not affected.<\/p>\n GlobalFoundries, the largest semiconductor manufacturer based in the US, described itself as having the \u201cflexibility to leverage alternative sources for key supplies\u201d with chip-making facilities on three continents. \u201cWe are in contact with our global suppliers and do not expect any disruption to our supply of quartz due to Hurricane Helene,\u201d says a GlobalFoundries spokesperson.<\/p>\n Companies that produce raw silicon wafers currently have wafer stockpiles sufficient to last anywhere from three to eight months, said Dylan Patel at SemiAnalysis<\/a>, an independent research firm, in a social media post<\/a>.<\/p>\n Spruce Pine \u201chas a near unique combination of purity, availability and price,\u201d wrote Ed Conway, a journalist at Sky News and author of Material World<\/em><\/a>, in a Substack post<\/a>. But he also pointed to other high-purity quartz mines in China, Russia and Brazil.<\/p>\n Natural high-purity quartz deposits are \u201cscarce\u201d, but companies can use purification methods if needed or even synthetically produce pure quartz, said Patel. He also pointed to the company Ferroglobe, which acquired a high-purity quartz mine in South Carolina in October 2023. A company press release<\/a> projected that mining operations could begin in the second half of 2024.<\/p>\n Topics:<\/p>\n<\/section><\/div>\nWhere does high-purity quartz come from?<\/h2>\n
How did Hurricane Helene impact quartz mining operations?<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/04190907\/SEI_224307331.jpg\")
<\/div>Will Helene disrupt the supply of semiconductors?<\/h2>\n
Are there alternative sources of quartz for the global semiconductor industry?<\/h2>\n