SPRUCE PINE, N.C. (AP) — One of the two companies that manufacture high-purity quartz used for making semiconductors and other high-tech products from mines in a western North Carolina community severely damaged by Hurricane Helene is operating again.
Sibelco announced on Thursday that production has restarted at its mining and processing operations in Spruce Pine, located 50 miles (80 kilometers) northeast of Asheville. Production and shipments are progressively ramping up to full capacity, the company said in a news release.
“While the road to full recovery for our communities will be long, restarting our operations and resuming shipments to customers are important contributors to rebuilding the local economy,” Sibelco CEO Hilmar Rode said.
Sibelco and The Quartz Corp. shut down operations ahead of the arrival of Helene, which devastated Spruce Pine and surrounding Mitchell County. Following the storm, both companies said that all of their employees were accounted for and safe.
The Quartz Corp. had said last week that it was too early to know when it would resume operations, adding it would depend on the rebuilding of local infrastructure.
Spruce Pine quartz is used around the world to manufacture the equipment needed to make silicon chips. An estimated 70% to 90% of the crucibles used worldwide in which polysilicon used for the chips is melted down are made from Spruce Pine quartz, according to Vince Beiser, the author of “The World in a Grain."
The high-tech quartz is also used in manufacturing solar panels and fiber-optic cables.
A Spruce Pine council member said recently that an estimated three-quarters of the town has a direct connection to the mines, whether through a job, a job that relies on the mines or a family member who works at the facilities.
North Carolina maker of high-purity quartz back operating post-Helene
An aerial view of quartz mines in Spruce Pine, N.C., as taken from a plane on Monday, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary D. Robertson)
North Carolina maker of high-purity quartz back operating post-Helene
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida theme parks including Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld planned to reopen Friday after an assessment of the effects of Hurricane Milton.
Disney World said in a statement that its theme parks, Disney Springs, and possibly other areas will be open. The parks said some Halloween special events won’t be offered and they won’t necessarily be fully functioning Friday, but the public is welcome back.
As Milton came ashore as a major storm Wednesday, all three Orlando-based parks shut down, putting a damper on the vacations of tens of thousands of tourists, many of whom hunkered down in hotels. SeaWorld closed for all of Wednesday, Disney World and Universal for the afternoon. All three were closed all day Thursday.
Orlando International Airport, the nation’s seventh busiest and Florida’s most trafficked, planned to resume domestic arrivals on Thursday night and departures on Friday morning. It had stopped commercial operations early Wednesday.
The airport's closure prevented Simon Forster, his wife and their two children from returning to Scotland, so they enjoyed an extra two days of their two-week vacation on the bustling International Drive in Orlando’s tourism district on Thursday. Hurricanes seem to follow them since two years ago Hurricane Ian kept them from returning to Scotland after another Orlando vacation.
“Last night, it was quite intense, Forster said. “I was watching the palm trees sway back and forth outside my hotel room. How they didn’t come down, I don’t know. Scary stuff.”
Their hotel at Universal Orlando Resort had a party atmosphere Wednesday night ahead of Milton’s arrival.
“The bar was good fun,” he said. “Two extra days here, there are are worst places we could be.”
Miniature golf was among the few activities available to tourists who had been locked down in their hotel rooms and rental condos. There was a line getting into Congo River Golf on International Drive.
Craig Greig of Glasgow, Scotland, would have been at the Magic Kingdom with his wife and 10-year-old if the theme parks had been open. Instead he was clutching a putter ready to putt golf balls over a man made lagoon filled with baby alligators.
“We just wanted to stretch our legs and get out of the hotel,” he said. “Especially for the little one.” Even though it was his first experience with a hurricane, he was unfazed and slept through the night as it roared through central Florida.
Disney World, Universal and other attractions make Orlando the United States' most visited destination, drawing 74 million tourists last year alone.
And Halloween-related celebrations have made October one of the busiest and most lucrative times for the parks.
Hurricanes in the Orlando area are uncommon but not unheard of. Three crossed the area in 2004 – Charley, Frances and Jeanne. Hurricane Irma in 2017 tracked just west of metro Orlando, and Hurricane Ian caused some flooding as it plowed through as a downgraded tropical storm in 2022.
AP Entertainment Writer Andrew Dalton contributed from Los Angeles.
Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform X: @MikeSchneiderAP.
Guests weather early bands of rain from Hurricane Milton at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. All four of Disney's Florida theme parks closed early Wednesday due to the forecast track of the storm. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
Tourists take in a last minute visit to Disney Springs entertainment complex before the arrival of Hurricane Milton Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Tourists walk past a sandbagged store entrance as they exit the Disney Springs entertainment complex before the arrival of Hurricane Milton Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Tourists exit the Disney Springs entertainment complex before the arrival of Hurricane Milton, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Tourists walk along Universal Orlando Resort city walk before the park closed early for the arrival of Hurricane Milton, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
The entrance to the Magic Kingdom theme park is shown empty shortly before they closed because of the arrival of Hurricane Milton, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Tourists exit Universal Orlando Resort as they were closing early for the arrival of Hurricane Milton Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Guests weather early bands of rain from Hurricane Milton at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Bay Lake, Fla., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP)
