The world's semiconductor industry hinges on a single quartz factory in North Carolina (2024)

A Wharton professor who studies AI, innovation, and start-ups dramatically claims that "the modern economy rests on a single road in Spruce Pine, North Carolina." Ethan Mollick explains that this unremarkable road leads to a Sibelco North America Inc. facility where ultra-high-purity quartz is mined. This location is vitally important as it is claimed to be "the sole supplier of the quartz required to make the crucibles needed to refine silicon wafers."

Regular readers will be well aware of several vital companies and locations that sustain the semiconductor industry as we know it. We have published numerous articles about Intel, TSMC, ASML, Samsung, and other companies. Moreover, locations such as Silicon Valley, Hsinchu Science Park, Bengaluru, and the Shenzhen SEZ have become household names due to their tech hub status. Put into this perspective, the remarkable nature of Spruce Pine is all the more eyebrow-raising.

Mollick 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.

For further insight into why the Spruce Pine location is so unique, the official Sibelco pages do a pretty good job of encapsulating the story of this particular mine. It is the world’s leading high-purity quartz (HPQ) provider, and the firm claims it produces “the world’s highest quality quartz” at this mine.

Geologically speaking, the uniquely pure minerals at Spruce Mine were created about 380 million years ago when Africa collided with North America. This momentous collision, however slow, caused intense friction and heat miles below the Earth’s surface. According to Sibelco, the Spruce Mine minerals were created by a rich mineral-forming liquid that cooled and crystallized over time. A standout feature of these minerals is that they were made in their purest forms due to a lack of water, which caused all the friction.

In more recent history, it is claimed that the Spruce Pine site has been mined for centuries, with Native American peoples known to have mined Mica. In addition to Mica and the headlining HPQ, the mine is a rich source of kaolin and feldspar.

Spruce pine-sourced minerals were first used for electronics by Thomas Edison, who used Mica as an insulator in some of his inventions as far back as 1879.

The fused quartz from Spruce Pine HPQ offers “unparalleled optical, mechanical, and thermal properties” for semiconductors, solar photovoltaic cells, optical fiber, and quartz lighting.

Returning to the question of Spruce Pine's particular importance, Mollick makes it clear in his social media thread that, yes, fully synthetic techniques are available to create similarly pure quartz. However, any sudden closure or interruption of the mining at Spruce Pine would likely cause "pretty catastrophic" disruption (and extra expense) for a few years as the industry scales up manufacturing.