North Carolina maker of high-purity quartz back operating post-Helene

SPRUCE PINE, N.C. (AP) — One of the two companies that manufacture high-purity quartz used for making semiconductors from mines in a western North Carolina community harmed by Hurricane Helene is operating again. Sibelco announced on Thursday that production has restarted at its mining and processing operations in Spruce Pine. Customer shipments also are happening. Sibelco and The Quartz Corp. shut down operations ahead of Helene’s arrival. The Quartz Corp. said last week it was too early to know when it would resume operations. Spruce Pine quartz is used to manufacture the equipment needed to make silicon chips. It’s also used for making solar panels and fiber-optic cables.