Baltimore, MD, Nov. 04, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The race for AI supremacy is usually told as a story about software, data centers and chip giants. But one of its most important ingredients comes out of the ground in a small mountain town in North Carolina.
Spruce Pine sits in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s home to some of the purest quartz deposits on Earth, and chipmakers around the world depend on it.
Now Washington is paying attention. Sibelco, which runs a quartz operation near Spruce Pine, has signed a letter of intent with the U.S. Department of Commerce for up to $56 million in CHIPS Act funding. The money would support research into processing high-purity quartz here at home. The deal isn’t final yet.
In a recent free presentation, former White House and Federal Reserve advisor Jim Rickards argues that America’s real wealth isn’t just in its tech companies. It’s “REAL mineral wealth,” he says. “The building blocks of life.”
From Mountain Rock to AI Chip
So what does quartz have to do with computer chips?
Nearly every chip starts as ultra-pure silicon. That silicon is grown into giant crystals inside quartz crucibles, heated to extreme temperatures. If the crucible isn’t almost perfectly pure, it contaminates the silicon and ruins the batch.
Spruce Pine’s quartz formed hundreds of millions of years ago. It’s among the very few natural sources in the world pure enough to do the job at scale.
That’s why the town became a household name in the chip world in 2024. When Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina, it temporarily halted operations at the local quartz mines. Suddenly, chipmakers everywhere were asking the same question: what happens if Spruce Pine goes offline?
Where the AI Money Really Flows
Rickards has a contrarian view of the AI boom. Many of the biggest names, he argues, are spending staggering sums with little to show for it yet.
“I know the Mag 7 companies are the poster-children for A.I.,” Rickards says. “But few of them are making money on it.” He notes that Microsoft “has put in at least $19 billion – but has yet to see any significant profits from A.I.”
Meanwhile, the physical buildout keeps growing. Rickards points to “the new $500 billion A.I. project, called Stargate,” just one sign of the money pouring into data centers and chips.
Every one of those chips starts with raw materials. And some of them start in a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
America’s Overlooked Advantage
Spruce Pine is a reminder that the most important part of the tech story is often the part nobody sees. Rare, specialized minerals sitting right here in America can matter as much as the companies that make headlines.
Rickards believes that’s true far beyond quartz. His presentation looks at the mineral wealth sitting beneath American soil, and asks what happens to its value as Washington starts treating it as a strategic asset.
About This Presentation
The AI race won’t be won by software alone. In The American Birthright, his free presentation, Jim Rickards explains why the physical resources behind modern technology may be America’s most underrated advantage. He also covers what he believes could happen as Washington moves to unlock them. Watch here.
About Jim Rickards
Jim Rickards has a long record of seeing trouble coming. In 2007, he testified before the U.S. Treasury, warning of a looming financial crisis. In 2008, he warned of a stock market crash that soon followed. In 2020, he warned of the coming pandemic and lockdowns. A former advisor to the White House and the Federal Reserve, he focuses on the forces that move markets before most investors notice them.
Derek Warren Public Relations Manager Paradigm Press Group Email: dwarren@paradigmpressgroup.com
