“Modern Economy Rests On Single Road” In North Carolina Where Hurricane Collapsed Bridges 

In March, a Wharton professor who studies artificial intelligence and start-ups claimed on X, “The modern economy rests on a single road in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. The road runs to the two mines that are the sole supplier of the quartz required to make the crucibles needed to refine silicon wafers.” 

Ethan Mollick noted at the time, “There are no alternative sources known” if supply disruptions were seen in Spruce Pines. 

The modern economy rests on a single road in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. The road runs to the two mines that is the sole supplier of the quartz required to make the crucibles needed to refine silicon wafers.

There are no alternative sources known. From Conway’s Material World: pic.twitter.com/mYfrfub8dw

— Ethan Mollick (@emollick) March 9, 2024

Fast-forward to this past weekend across the Western North Carolina area, where a major disaster continues to unfold after tropical system Helene dumped torrential rains and unleashed devastating floods that pulverized entire towns, destroyed roads, highways, and bridges, and left tens of thousands without power. 

Absolutely horrid photos coming out of Spruce Pine, NC. right now, as buddies of mine are on the ground helping #Helene victims. pic.twitter.com/35fDndq7iy

— Carolina Patriot (@ACarolinaGuy) September 29, 2024

I have asked for pictures on facebook. I joined the Let’s Talk #SprucePine #NC page. 12K+ Hundreds of families have loved ones unaccounted for…the roads into Spruce Pine are not passable. Bridges are collapsed. People are scared and desperate. Spruce Pine needs the… pic.twitter.com/FttEYIW3Ai

— Gretchen Smith🇺🇸 (@MAGAgpsmith) September 28, 2024

The CSX rail between Erwin, TN and Spruce Pine, TN is unrecognizable, and in some cases, completely missing, lost to the floods created by #Helena. Could take months to open the route again. Terrible thing to happen. pic.twitter.com/QqhrsBDrPz

— Jags Board Game & Movie Guy (@MoviePaul) September 28, 2024

I have friends that live in flood warning areas of Winston Salem NC & Newport & the ones im really worried about live not far out of Spruce Pine NC & cant get a hold of them yet.
Not sure how updated below info is pic.twitter.com/yQJ4yC2WtK

— ⊕ֿֿֿֿBliTzer ツ (@blitzer850) September 28, 2024

Just took this pic moments ago from Fox… just short of two *feet* of rain at Spruce Pine… pic.twitter.com/vZySfAvmw7

— 4CatDoc (@4CatDoc) September 30, 2024

Back to Mollick. He shared with his followers a detailed list of the top miners in Spruce Pine, highlighting Sibelco North America, known for producing ultra-high-purity quartz used in refined silicon wafers.

Really nice deep dive into the reasons why Spruce Pine is so important. https://t.co/OdUODRnDOB

— Ethan Mollick (@emollick) March 9, 2024

As of Monday morning, Mollick’s worst fears could be realized as Google Traffic data shows road closures around the Sibelco mining facilities and across the entire region. 

A 2018 note from Wired shows just how critical Spruce Pines area mines are for semiconductor production: “A fire in 2008 at one of the main quartz facilities in Spruce Pine for a time all but shut off the supply of high‑purity quartz to the world market, sending shivers through the industry.” 

Earlier this year, Tom’s Hardware cited Mollick’s X posts, saying the Wharton professor “provides an excerpt from Conway’s Material World, which discusses the probable “end of computer chip manufacture as we know it,” should something untoward happen at Spruce Pine or in the skies above it.” 

Here’s what folks on X are saying about Spruce Pines…

Almost every crystalline silicon photovoltaic module and semiconductor chip made in the world today relies on this mining district in western North Carolina. https://t.co/0U6fAapjiN pic.twitter.com/FiURjlLQoW

— Dustin Mulvaney (@DustinMulvaney) September 29, 2024

Oh joy, what a great time to find out that a massive supply bottleneck for computer chips and solar panels exists right by a river in western North Carolina… https://t.co/CL3AyFH44w pic.twitter.com/gbdlk7BKQQ

— Sean – Alberta Nuclear (@AlbertaNuclear) September 29, 2024

How do I express that I’m concerned about the people of western NC and I’m also concerned about the potential future global economic disaster because Spruce Pine is the sole producer of ultra pure Quartz for crucibles that all global semiconductor production relies on? pic.twitter.com/pcg4bonoJn

— Fossil Locator (@FossilLocator) September 29, 2024

There has been no confirmation from the miner about any disruption. Well, not as of Monday morning.