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The Ultra-Pure, Super-Secret Sand That Makes Your Phone Possible (wired.com)
The processor that makes your laptop or cell phone work was fabricated using quartz from this obscure Appalachian backwater. From a report: Alex Glover is a recently retired geologist who has spent decades hunting for valuable minerals in the hillsides and hollows of the Appalachian Mountains that surround Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Spruce Pine is not a wealthy place. Its downtown consists of a somnambulant train station across the street from a couple of blocks of two-story brick buildings, including a long-closed movie theater and several empty storefronts. The wooded mountains surrounding it, though, are rich in all kinds of desirable rocks, some valued for their industrial uses, some for their pure prettiness. But it's the mineral in Glover's bag -- snowy white grains, soft as powdered sugar -- that is by far the most important these days. It's quartz, but not just any quartz. Spruce Pine, it turns out, is the source of the purest natural quartz -- a species of pristine sand -- ever found on Earth.
This ultra-elite deposit of silicon dioxide particles plays a key role in manufacturing the silicon used to make computer chips. In fact, there's an excellent chance the chip that makes your laptop or cell phone work was made using sand from this obscure Appalachian backwater. "It's a billion-dollar industry here," Glover says with a hooting laugh. "Can't tell by driving through here. You'd never know it." In the 21st century, sand has become more important than ever, and in more ways than ever. Most of the world's sand grains are composed of quartz, which is a form of silicon dioxide, also known as silica. High-purity silicon dioxide particles are the essential raw materials from which we make computer chips, fiber-optic cables, and other high-tech hardware -- the physical components on which the virtual world runs.
This ultra-elite deposit of silicon dioxide particles plays a key role in manufacturing the silicon used to make computer chips. In fact, there's an excellent chance the chip that makes your laptop or cell phone work was made using sand from this obscure Appalachian backwater. "It's a billion-dollar industry here," Glover says with a hooting laugh. "Can't tell by driving through here. You'd never know it." In the 21st century, sand has become more important than ever, and in more ways than ever. Most of the world's sand grains are composed of quartz, which is a form of silicon dioxide, also known as silica. High-purity silicon dioxide particles are the essential raw materials from which we make computer chips, fiber-optic cables, and other high-tech hardware -- the physical components on which the virtual world runs.
I love how people refer to rural areas as backwaters. Yet folks from the city get all bent out of shape when we call their dirty shitholes what they are, dirty shitholes. Enjoy choking on smog and surface level ozone. Meanwhile I'll enjoy the fresh air and clean water in my "backwater"
A somnambulant train station... that's quite impressive. Not many towns have sleep-walking train stations.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
"ultra-elite deposit of silicon dioxide" "somnambulant train station"
What?
I've always found sand to be course, rough, and irritating. It gets everywhere.
...somnambulant train station
Having an extensive vocabulary: Impressive.
Having a shitty vocabulary and trying too hard to compensate: Priceless!
I recently started a geology hobby. Can anyone elaborate on the specific qualities of this sand? How is the purity measured? Maybe point to some bibliography? I'd love to measure the 'purity' of the sand next time I find myself in a quarry!
This is a test please ignore.
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
Fairly deceptive, the sand from this source isn't used in the electronics grade silicon, it just makes for cheaper quartz crucibles used in making electronics grade silicon. Nothing really new or noteworthy here, without this sand supply semiconductor costs might rise .00353% or so. Literally nothing compared to R&D, manufacturing tools cost, DI water, electricity, labor, the cost to build a fab, testing, packaging, etc.
Edgar Cayce (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Cayce) was considered a somnambulant psychic - he gave prognostications when he was asleep.
If the train station could do that, it's time to call in Mulder and Scully.
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
I doubt that this actually has much value. If this one is taxed companies can just use slightly less pure sand and clean it. I don't think the additional cleaning costs much. Achieving the extreme purity needed in the end is expensive, but the additional effort needed to clean less pure initial sand can't be that extreme.
I think this sand is only used so much because it's as cheap as any other, but saves a bit of cost.
Ignore all those thin-skinned culture warriors whining about word choice, its standard authoritarian distraction designed to keep regular folks from talking about important stuff.
The real issue here is why the people in this place aren't benefiting from the mining? It sounds like the same old "resource curse" that screws over poor people the world over - a couple of very wealthy people come and take without giving back proportionality. Sure, they give a little, baubles basically, to keep everyone distracted but once the resources are gone, everything ends up collapsing even worse than before.
Its not about who said mean words, its about all that wealth being taken by those who have more than enough wealth already.
The existence of the sand is not (and never was) a secret. The secrets are the processes used to purify it, and as TFA says, they were unable to get ANY information about that.
Spruce Pine was the mica capital during WWII. Then it was a significant source of feldspar. Now pure-ish quartz. There've been some less-than-legal industries there, too.
This is a setup for telling us we are going to run out of sand. Yes like we will run out of aluminum (which literally the most abundant metal in the Earth surface/crust), or water. All it means is an extra purification step. Without an ideal ore it just means we need to do extra purification steps .. like for example desalinating sea water or building pipelines into desert areas. If we ran out of this quartz we can use sand from somewhere else .. it may cost more in terms of energy to purify it thats all. Use solar or nuclear fusion (eventually) or something.
I live 45 minutes away from Spruce Pine, up in the mountains. I drive to the "big city" of Spruce Pine to get groceries, etc. Yet I have fiber optic internet, solar panels, and my own spring and well. And read Slashdot. I'll never move back to cities like Chicago, Memphis, Charlotte. Suck it haters.
Fumed silica is powdered sand. It has a number of uses, one common one is for fillers in other solidifying liquids such as rubber, glue and paint. 'Food-safe' (sterile) fumed silica is a common food ingredient/thickener. You can buy bags of it on ebay.
... but then again, what fun stuff doesn't do that?
Fumed silica bounces. If you hit a bag of fumed silica with your hand, you can feel it vibrate after for a bit, as if it is rubber.
Oh--and also it can kill you (if you breathe it)
A couple of years ago some fat cats in Charlotte tried to buy land to dig a sand mine here near my town of Red Springs NC. It didn't happen: town fathers were rightfully suspicious because of several misleading statements from the purchasers ("We want to build big mansions!"), the history of total environmental disaster aftermaths in nearby counties from similar sand mines, etc.
The word finally was that they wanted the sand (particularly good stuff for top-end glass, they were now saying), and of course they'd clean everything up.
Riiii-ight. Still, one wonders if our sand is as good as that pure quartz stuff up in the mountains. Numerous sand pits around here, part of our ancient history as a shallow sea bottom, but none particularly distinguished.
It would be nice to hear real news. After all, the word is based on the adjective "new." Oy.
"But it's the mineral in Glover's bag -- snowy white grains, soft as powdered sugar -- that is by far the most important these days."
Sounded like we were about to start discussing something else here.
This article writer sounds like they are trying to be a novelist instead.