Spruce Pines’ quartz can’t be replaced, there’s no alternative supply chain. So if the quartz mines close, the entire semi-conductor supply chain grinds to a halt, as it did in the 2008 fire.

This old Wired article is a great piece on this key part of the tech supply chain. www.wired.com/story/book-e...

The Ultra-Pure, Super-Secret Sand That Makes Your Phone Possible

The processor that makes your laptop or cell phone work was fabricated using quartz from this obscure Appalachian backwater.