ESSENTIAL NODE IN GLOBAL SEMICONDUCTOR SUPPLY CHAIN HIT BY HURRICANE HELENE — COMPANY SAYS IT HAS “TEMPORARILY HALTED OPERATIONS” AFTER VIDEO REVEALS ENTRANCE TO MINE HAS FLOODED
Based on Hunterbrook Media’s reporting, Hunterbrook Capital is long Ferroglobe Plc (NASDAQ: $GSM) and Nordic Mining ASA (Oslo: $NOM) at the time of publication. Positions may change at any time. See full disclosures below.
“The modern economy rests on a single road in Spruce Pine, North Carolina,” wrote Ethan Mollick, a professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School and codirector of its Generative AI Labs, on March 9, 2024.
At the end of this inconspicuous road sit two mines that produce the vast majority of high-purity quartz (HPQ) that is indispensable to the global semiconductor industry.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the horrific damage to the community appears to have extended to the roads and freight rail line connecting the mining operations to the outside world — according to images reviewed and geolocated by Hunterbrook Media.
One video posted to TikTok appeared to show the entrance to one of the structures of the mine — owned by SCR Sibelco NV (BSE: BE0944264663) — underwater, with a text overlay praying for the community.
