The Blue Ridge Mountain mine powering the world’s digital economy
- One of the most abundant minerals in the Earth’s crust, quartz is essential for manufacturing core components of smartphones and computers.
- Most of the world’s supply comes from a single mining district in the Appalachian Mountains of the southeast United States, which has become an unlikely linchpin of the global tech economy.
- Issued on: 18/07/2026 - 18:02Modified: 18/07/2026 - 18:04 3 min Reading time In a valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, some 800 metres above sea level, lie a few square kilometres that feed the global computer chip industry.
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- One of the most abundant minerals in the Earth’s crust, quartz is essential for manufacturing core components of smartphones and computers.
- Most of the world’s supply comes from a single mining district in the Appalachian Mountains of the southeast United States, which has become an unlikely linchpin of the global tech economy.
- Issued on: 18/07/2026 - 18:02Modified: 18/07/2026 - 18:04 3 min Reading time In a valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, some 800 metres above sea level, lie a few square kilometres that feed the global computer chip industry.
Sources: RFI