I'm hearing that the all-important quartz factory is gone? If so, this is HUGE!!! "The quartz mine needed to refine silicone needed to make anything electronic in North Carolina is gone, thus far this is only known source in the world for this type of quartz."
Article from March 2024: The world's semiconductor industry hinges on a single quartz factory in North Carolina, "the sole supplier of the quartz required to make the crucibles needed to refine silicon wafers." "However, any sudden closure or interruption of the mining at Spruce Pine would likely cause "pretty catastrophic" disruption (and extra expense) for a few years as the industry scales up manufacturing." https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/the-worlds-semiconductor-industry-hinges-on-a-quartz-factory-in-north-carolina
I mentioned this to my father. He's a chemist, and is intimately aware of the process to make silicon wafers. He says there are plenty of other sources, they just might be at a higher cost. So he says it's not that big of an issue. I guess we'll see.