So far in this series, pretty much every material we’ve covered has had to undergo a significant industrial process to transform it from its natural state to a more useful product. Whether it’s the ...

The world’s main producer of high-purity quartz, a mineral crucial to the global supply of semiconductor chips, announced its shuttered Spruce Pine, North Carolina, mines have endured “minor damage,” ...

Two weeks after shutting down its Spruce Pine facilities ahead of Hurricane Helene, Belgian mining company Sibelco announced Thursday it has restarted operations in the Western North Carolina town ...

Operations at a crucial facility for the semiconductor industry in North Carolina have now been stopped for five days as the state recovers from the devastation brought on by the remnants of Hurricane ...

A bridge in Old Fort, North Carolina, appears damaged on September 30, following Hurricane Helene. Old Fort is roughly 30 miles from the town of Spruce Pine, which supplies much of the world's ...

The remnants of Hurricane Helene ripped through the Western North Carolina mountain town of Spruce Pine last week, disrupting a quartz facility integral to the global production of solar panels and ...

An aerial look at the quartz mines in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, taken prior to Tropical Storm Helene. Google Maps Two weeks after shutting down its Spruce Pine facilities ahead of Hurricane Helene, ...

Hurricane Helene swept across the Southeast, causing major flooding and destruction throughout North Carolina. Here is ongoing coverage from The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer about ...