China makes roughly 70% of the world's silicon metal — but the purest quartz comes from one town in North Carolina. What silica is, what it enables, and where the real chokepoint sits.
Last updated: October 2026
Silica is silicon dioxide — quartz sand, the second most common mineral in the Earth's crust. China makes roughly 70% of the world's silicon metal. But the purest quartz, the kind that holds molten silicon in every chip fab, comes overwhelmingly from one place: Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
| # | Country | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | ~68% |
| 2 | United States | ~7% |
| 3 | Brazil | ~6% |
| 4 | Norway | ~4% |
| 5 | France | ~3% |
Silicon metal production shares, 2024 (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025). High-purity quartz is a separate, far more concentrated market.
Silica is silicon dioxide (SiO2), occurring as quartz sand and rock. It is smelted to metallurgical silicon, refined to polysilicon for chips and solar cells, and — at its purest — made into crucibles that hold molten silicon. High-purity quartz (HPQ) must exceed 99.995% SiO2.
Semiconductors, solar polysilicon, glass, foundry molds, silicone chemicals, concrete and construction, and high-purity quartz crucibles without which no chip fab can run.
China, with roughly 68% of world silicon metal production (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025). For high-purity quartz, the dominant source is Spruce Pine, North Carolina (United States).
China accounts for roughly 68% of silicon metal and dominates polysilicon refining. But China does not control high-purity quartz: the Spruce Pine deposits in North Carolina supply most of the world's crucible quartz, and China imports it.
High. Two chokepoints, not one: Chinese silicon metal (~68%) and US high-purity quartz (Spruce Pine, near-monopoly on crucible quartz). Either side can squeeze the semiconductor chain. Solar-grade polysilicon is the third pressure point.
Silica is quartz sand, smelted into silicon metal and refined into polysilicon for chips and solar. China makes roughly 68% of silicon metal. But the purest quartz — the crucibles that hold molten silicon — comes mostly from Spruce Pine, North Carolina, a single town with a veto over global chip production.
Silica is silicon dioxide (SiO2), occurring as quartz sand and rock. It is smelted to metallurgical silicon, refined to polysilicon for chips and solar cells, and — at its purest — made into crucibles that hold molten silicon. High-purity quartz (HPQ) must exceed 99.995% SiO2.
Semiconductors, solar polysilicon, glass, foundry molds, silicone chemicals, concrete and construction, and high-purity quartz crucibles without which no chip fab can run.
China, with roughly 68% of world silicon metal production (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025). For high-purity quartz, the dominant source is Spruce Pine, North Carolina (United States).
