Mar 24, 2024 · Why it matters: Ultra-high-purity quartz is an essential component to semiconductor chips, and the only places in the world that can meet this need are two mines in a small North Carolina town....

Oct 3, 2024 · The quartz mines in Spruce Pine, owned by Belgian mining company Sibelco and the local Quartz Corp, supply 80 to 90 percent of all high-quality quartz in the world, per CNN’s Clare Duffy and ...

Oct 11, 2024 · Operations at one of two quartz mines in western North Carolina resumed late this week after being shut down for more than two weeks following Hurricane Helene’s dumping of 2 feet of rain on...

Oct 2, 2024 · The town is home to mines that produce some of the world’s highest quality quartz. With increasing global demand, Sibelco announced last year that it would invest $200 million to double capacity at Spruce Pine.

Oct 2, 2024 · Quartz is the second-most abundant mineral in the Earth’s crust, but while it can be found across the world, quartz reserve properties—including a deposit’s size and type—vary by region.

Oct 2, 2024 · Spruce Pine is recognized for its mines that yield some of the highest quality quartz globally, making this closure particularly impactful given the increasing demand for quartz. Many workers...

Browse quartz mining mines in The United States by region—including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona.

Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO 4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical formula of SiO 2.

Quartz is generally extracted from the open pit mines. There are different types of crystal in this family, but almost all the crystals are extracted from this method. In this method, the top soil or overburden material covering the crystal is removed and kept for refill purposes.

Oct 3, 2024 · Two companies, Sibelco and The Quartz Corp., extract the high-purity quartz in Spruce Pine, refine it and export it to manufacturing facilities based primarily in China and other parts of Asia....