“North Carolina’s reliable for me,” Trump said at Dorton Arena in Raleigh, the first of four stops on Election Day Eve. “Never lost. And I don’t think we’re going to start now.”

The Trump campaign emphasized early voting across the country. In North Carolina, in-person early voting started in all 100 counties on Oct. 17 and ended on Nov. 2 at 3 p.m.

The State Board of Elections reported that more than 4.2 million residents cast early voting ballots—a record number.

The previous high for early voting happened in 2020, when more than 3.6 million ballots were cast.

Including absentee voting, 4,465,548 voters—or 57 percent of the state’s 7.8 million registered voters—cast ballots in the general election as of Nov. 3, according to the state board.

Official turnout could be even higher because of a lag between when ballots are turned in and when data is uploaded.

Lorena Castillo-Ritz, chair of the Mecklenburg County GOP in a region anchored by left-leaning Charlotte, said that the Trump campaign, conservative PACs, and her organization embarked on a “strong ground game” that targeted “low-propensity voters” who are registered to vote but did not cast their ballot in 2020.

“When we get people to vote who didn’t vote in the last election, that adds up and makes a significant impact in the overall numbers statewide,” Castillo-Ritz told The Epoch Times.

“We’re hopeful that getting the low-propensity voters to the polls in our area, and other urban areas across North Carolina, elevates President Trump to a win here.”

First in Line

Tony Caraccio is a 21-year-old HVAC professional in Asheboro. He was first in line at the Election Day eve rally in Raleigh, arriving at midnight for Trump’s scheduled 10 a.m. address. He believes that early voting numbers will benefit Trump when the ballots are counted.

“There was a widespread grassroots movement for early voting that we haven’t seen in the last few cycles. The campaign learned from its mistakes and focused on getting absentee ballots and early voting so that the election is too big to rig,” he said.

“I was too young to vote in 2020 and thought I’d never have a chance to vote for Trump. I wish the circumstances didn’t lead to him not winning then and running now, but at least I had the chance to vote for him this time.”

Turnout in the 25 western North Carolina counties impacted by Hurricane Helene was 58.9 percent—around 2 percent higher than the statewide total, the state board said.

Over the weekend, at a rally in Kinston, Trump praised the people who voted early in areas where homes and businesses were swept away by mudslides and flooding from Helene.

“Many of these people don’t even have a house anymore. The devastation is like something never seen. It’s largely areas where people like Trump that were affected, and even with all of that devastation, they turned out in record numbers early,” Trump said.

“The people of your state, the people of North Carolina, are amazing. I thought we would get 50 percent of the number that voted in 2020. [Instead] they broke the record,” he added.

Holding 16 Electoral College votes, North Carolina is a battleground state that both candidates covet.

Barack Obama became the first Democrat presidential candidate to win North Carolina in 30 years when he defeated John McCain in 2008. Trump prevailed in 2016 and then edged Biden by 1.3 percent of the vote in 2020.

Roy Cooper, who has served as governor since 2017, is a Democrat. He spoke in Raleigh before Harris took the stage as did attorney general Josh Stein, who is running for governor against Republican nominee Mark Robinson.

On Election Day eve, Trump held a 1.3 percent lead over Harris in the Real Clear Politics average of polls.

The western portion of the state was severely impacted by flooding and mudslides from Hurricane Helene, displacing many residents. The mountains of western North Carolina are considered a Republican stronghold.

The 25 counties that compose the disaster area have 1.3 million registered voters. In 2020, Trump won 604,119 votes to Joe Biden’s 356,902 votes in those counties, according to political analyst Ray Bonifay, who highlighted the importance of the region in an Oct. 18 commentary on RealClearPolitics.

Amid the surge of Republican early voters, the Harris campaign canceled $2 million in ad reservations in North Carolina media markets on Oct. 29, according to AdImpact. The previous day, the campaign reserved $2.7 million for an ad blitz.

The Carolina Journal reported that Harris was not abandoning the state but that she was shifting her focus to the Raleigh-Durham market.

In Charlotte on Nov. 2, Harris courted conservatives who are reluctant to support the former president.

“We know we have an opportunity in this election to turn the page on a decade of Donald Trump, who has been trying to keep us divided and afraid of each other,” Harris said.

Harris said that she will “represent all Americans, including those who don’t vote for me” and that “the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us.”

Trump, she said, is focused on revenge and personal interests while she will put country over party.

“Donald Trump will walk in with an enemies list” if he is elected, Harris added.

“When I am elected, I will walk in with a to-do list, full of priorities I will get done for you the American people,” she said.

Voting Habits

Nathaniel Scripa moved to North Carolina from Syracuse, New York to live in a state that was more conservative, he told The Epoch Times.

“Now a lot of people from New York and other blue states are moving here and bringing with them their voting habits, which doesn’t make sense because the liberal policies that made their states so terrible are what led many of them here,” he said.

“That makes early voting, and getting people who usually don’t vote to get to the polls, important in this election,” he added.

Harris held rallies centered around the “When We Vote, We Win” motto. Trump believes that, in North Carolina and nationwide, the increase in Republican early voting combined with a traditional strong showing at the polls on Election Day will result in his victory.

“It’s ours to lose,” Trump said in Raleigh. “If we get everybody out and vote, there’s not a thing they can do.”

As of Sunday afternoon, data provided by the University of Florida’s Election Lab shows 41.2 million voted by mail or early in person in the vast majority of states, with only a few states not reporting data.

Compared with four years ago, Republicans are returning more mail-in ballots and voting early in-person. Party affiliation does not mean that voters cast ballot for their party’s nominated candidate, meaning there is no way to definitively know what presidential candidate is ahead.

In states that report votes by party, registered Democrats have a 3.8 percent lead over registered Republicans, with 40 percent to 36.2 percent, respectively. Independent or minor party voters make up about 23.8 percent of the remainder, according to data provided by the lab.

Republicans have a 9-point advantage over Democrats during in-person early voting, while Democrats have a more than 11-point lead over Republicans for mail-in ballot returns, the data show.

As of Oct. 25, only 24.5 percent of mail-in ballots returned were from Republicans, while about 52.3 percent of Democrats did so, according to the Election Lab. Some 22.6 percent of returned mail ballots were from independents or those registered with minor parties.

Republicans in 2020 also had a smaller lead voting in-person early, the data show. At the time, some 40.2 percent of Republicans voted in-person early, while 37.5 percent were Democrats.

States that have reported no data so far include New York, Alabama, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma.

Swing-State Breakdown

In Nevada, Republicans have a 5.1 percent early voting lead—or 31,000 votes—over Democrats, the Election Lab’s data show. That state was called for President Joe Biden over Trump in 2020.

Meanwhile, Republicans have a 6.9-percent advantage over Democrats in Arizona, a state that only reports mail-in ballots. Biden was also certified the victor in Arizona by a slim, 10,000-vote margin four years ago.

Voting by mail is extremely popular in Arizona, with nearly 90 percent of voters having cast their ballots early, most by mail, in 2020. Election officials in Arizona can begin processing and tabulating mail ballots upon receipt, but results cannot be released until one hour after polls close.

Late last week, Republicans pulled ahead in North Carolina, a state won by former President Donald Trump in 2020. By Sunday, the lead increased marginally to about 1.1 percent, or about 30,000 votes, over Democrats, data show.

Earlier this month, Trump visited areas in North Carolina that were ravaged by Hurricane Helene, saying that some Americans in the region “felt helpless and abandoned and left behind by their government.”

“In North Carolina’s hour of desperation, the American people answered the call much more so than your federal government,” he said.

And in mid-October, Vice President Kamala Harris held a rally in Greenville, North Carolina, and told a crowd that she wants to “fight for the ideals of our country and to fight to realize the promise of America.”

Pennsylvania has only reported mail-in ballots as of Oct. 27, showing that Democrats have taken a more than 330,000-vote lead over Republicans. However, Democrats’ lead has narrowed in recent days, down about 19,000 votes since Oct. 24, data show.

Pennsylvania did not have a clear winner in 2020 for four days after Election Day, as officials sifted through a huge backlog of mail ballots. The state is among only a handful that do not permit election workers to process or tabulate mail ballots until 7 a.m. ET on Election Day, which means it will likely again take days before the outcome is known.

Georgia, Michigan, and Wisconsin do not report party affiliation via the Election Lab website.

Reuters contributed to this report.

That help is being provided by teams of patriots that are working around the clock to get food, generators and supplies where they need to be.  In many cases, life-saving assistance is arriving just in time.  I don’t even want to think about what would have happened if everyone had just sat back and waited for the federal government to come riding to the rescue.

According to the New York Post, a massive rescue and supply operation that has enlisted the help of “hundreds of special operations personnel” is being run out of a Harley-Davidson dealership…

Hundreds of special operations personnel in North Carolina have formed their own homegrown rescue and supply operation in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene after they grew tired of waiting for the federal government to get its act together.

The Post found an all-volunteer operation being run out of a Harley-Davidson dealership with ruthless efficiency and military precision.

“Who’s FEMA?” ex-Green Beret Adam Smith derisively responded when asked about the agency’s presence on the ground since the deadly storm ravaged the rural western part of the state.

When is the last time that you saw the phrases “ruthless efficiency” and “military precision” used to describe an operation being run by the federal government?

While FEMA fumbles the ball, these men are stepping up and getting the job done. It is being reported that they have put together a fleet of 35 helicopters…

This Harley-Davidson dealership has become a forward operating base, complete with a fleet of 35 helicopters that have flown hundreds of rescue, reconnaissance and resupply sorties.

Organizers were calling the effort the “Savage Freedoms Relief Operation,” but Smith says they’ve proudly adopted an alternate moniker — “the Redneck Air Force.”

The dealership teems with current and former soldiers decked out in camo pants and army boots with handguns strapped to their chests and hips. Crop duster pilots, helicopter tour guides and special operations pilots — most of them off-duty or retired military — have answered the call from Smith and others in North Carolina’s extensive military community.

I was so encouraged to hear about what they are doing.

Of course they aren’t the only ones that have stepped up to the plate.

Dr. Phil McGraw says that Samaritan’s Purse is doing an absolutely amazing job of getting desperately needed aid to victims of the storm…

Dr. Phil McGraw praised the work that Franklin Graham’s relief organization Samaritan’s Purse is doing to help the victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

It is putting the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s work to shame.

“Let me tell you, these [Samaritan’s Purse] guys don’t have meetings to fill out forms to plan a meeting to get something going. They have verbs in their sentences. They have springs in their step, and they’re out making things happen,” McGraw said.

“FEMA, all these other people are talking, thinking. No, not Samaritan’s Purse. They’re out doing things,” he added.

A video of Dr. Phil discussing what Samaritan’s Purse has been doing has been getting a lot of attention.

Over the years, Samaritan’s Purse has helped millions of people all over the globe when disaster has struck, and once again they are showing why they are so highly regarded.

Why can’t our federal government be more like Samaritan’s Purse?

According to one patriot that is involved in private relief efforts in a very remote part of North Carolina, the only government donation that has shown up in his area so far are pallets of electric chainsaws…

We are on the mountaintop in Little Switzerland collecting airlifted donations and distributing them to homes that have no power or are inaccessible. The community is self organizing incredibly well

This is the only federal government response I’ve seen so far. Almost all the pallets we have received are donations coming in from citizens and orgs.
Feds usually don’t come this far up into the mountains

This has been the government donation: pallets of electric chainsaws to communities that have no power

There are a lot of homes and communities that still don’t have power, cell service, or water. There are teams going out to these communities, and are still finding people who haven’t yet made contact since the storm.

Our little project involves receiving airlifted donations and distributing them both to the ATV teams, as well as directly to houses we can access via road.

The electric chainsaws would help if there was actually power in the region.

But for communities that have no power, electric chainsaws are essentially worthless right now.

FEMA gets a ton of funding, but I don’t know what they are doing with it.

According to the New York Times, only 1,217 FEMA employees are “available to respond to Hurricane Milton and other disasters as of Monday”…

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is currently stretched thin on manpower even as an incoming category 5 hurricane moves toward the U.S.

Just 1,217 FEMA workers, which is less than 10% of their personnel, were available to respond to Hurricane Milton and other disasters as of Monday, according to The New York Times.

It appears that Hurricane Milton could be one of the most destructive hurricanes in the entire history of our nation.

Will the federal response to Hurricane Milton be as pathetic as the federal response to Hurricane Helene was?

I have been watching so many videos that have absolutely horrified me.

There have even been instances where the feds appear to be doing far more harm than good.

In one case, a mysterious helicopter was actually “caught on video destroying a volunteer donation site for hurricane victims”…

An unmarked military-style helicopter was caught on video destroying a volunteer donation site for hurricane victims in Burnsville, North Carolina on Sunday.

The helicopter was seen swooping in low over the distribution staging area and performing a “rotor-wash” maneuver that used the powerful downward gust forces to blow away supplies and canopy tents.

One of the individuals who recorded the incident claimed the area was established as a “no fly no drop” zone, and claimed the “ghost” helicopter pilots wore masks, suggesting they were special forces or government contractors.

“They could clearly see the supply setup, blue tents etc and see this was NOT a clear landing zone,” they captioned in the video.

In the old days, our government could be counted on to exhibit at least a minimal level of competence.

Sadly, those days are long gone.

When everything hits the fan, don’t count on the government to save you.

During the very difficult times that are approaching, local communities will have to be united and we are all going to have to learn to work together, because there is no other option.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

With the notable exception of the more metropolitan Asheville, county seat of Buncombe County, most of the hardest-hit North Carolina counties in the path of Hurricane Helene are rural and lean Republican.

But the state election board for the fiercely contested battleground state—former President Donald Trump is neck and neck with Vice President Kamala Harris—has a 3-2 Democratic majority.

Harris and Trump are polling less than 1% with one another, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average, and past presidential contests have been tight in the state.

The election board unanimously voted Monday to allow 13 counties most affected by the storm to make changes in election procedures, so long as there is a bipartisan majority to do so.

The process would include changing or adding voting sites and notifying voters by mail and through local media about such changes as quickly as possible. The resolution adopted by the state board allows the chairman of local election boards to appoint replacement members if someone is unable to carry out his or her duties.

“These measures were put in place to ensure the victims of Helene can vote in the upcoming election and provide election officials in the hardest-hit areas the tools they need to conduct a secure election under extraordinarily difficult conditions,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said Monday during a teleconference with reporters.

I am in Big Oak Park, a mobile home community 30 mins south of Asheville.

Its residents, many of whom are 55+ years-old and at-risk have been without power for 10 days.

Residents tell me that trash has been building up, inviting disease and bears.

More to come. pic.twitter.com/kOTZHXxH9b

— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyJr1) October 6, 2024

“While several of North Carolina’s neighboring states have moved to implement those lessons, North Carolina’s Gov. Cooper has been shockingly inactive, as have his allies on the state board,” he said.

The Tar Heel State has become a major battleground for the 2024 presidential election. In 2020, incumbent Republican Trump carried the state against Democratic challenger Joe Biden by just 1.3%. In 2016, Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in North Carolina by less than 4% of the vote.

In-person early voting begins Oct. 17. Mail-in voting began Sept. 21, after a brief delay to accommodate a court ruling to remove independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name from the ballot.

“We have every intention of starting early voting as scheduled on Thursday, Oct. 17, in all 100 counties,” Bell, the state election board’s executive director, said.

Meet Dianne Messer, who, along with Doug Warden, who is 93-year-old, run Big Oak Mobile Park in Hendersonville, North Carolina.

Dianne was kind enough to show me around the property and introduce me to some of the residence, many of whom have been without power for 10 days.… pic.twitter.com/tRZuvYhqi9

— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyJr1) October 6, 2024

“While several of North Carolina’s neighboring states have moved to implement those lessons, North Carolina’s Gov. Cooper has been shockingly inactive, as have his allies on the state board,” he said.

The Tar Heel State has become a major battleground for the 2024 presidential election. In 2020, incumbent Republican Trump carried the state against Democratic challenger Joe Biden by just 1.3%. In 2016, Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton in North Carolina by less than 4% of the vote.

In-person early voting begins Oct. 17. Mail-in voting began Sept. 21, after a brief delay to accommodate a court ruling to remove independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s name from the ballot.

“We have every intention of starting early voting as scheduled on Thursday, Oct. 17, in all 100 counties,” Bell, the state election board’s executive director, said.

This is how high the water got during hurricane Helene over a week ago in

River Arts District, Asheville pic.twitter.com/RgNdOgYrLr

— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyJr1) October 6, 2024

Hurricane Helene made landfall first in Florida, then swept through parts of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama, killing more than 220 and leaving catastrophic property damage. Of these states, North Carolina sustained the worse beating.

Cuccinelli’s Election Transparency Initiative noted one reported concern that relocated nursing home residents won’t be able to vote.

The elections watchdog group also noted that it’s still unknown which preapproved polling sites are unserviceable in the 22 counties affected by Helene. North Carolina law requires the election board to approve alternate sites.

Also, suspension of deliveries by the U.S. Postal Service in the state’s western counties disrupted mail-in voting.

Cuccinelli said Cooper and the elections board should “stop stalling and start working to ensure that those communities already devastated by Helene at least have their voice through their votes.”

Cuccinelli, also a former Virginia attorney general, specified two top North Carolina Republicans who could do this.

“To the extent Gov. Cooper refuses to make immediate adjustments, when the General Assembly convenes next week we urge swift action from House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate Leader [Phil] Berger to maintain the integrity of the upcoming election across the western counties of North Carolina—ensuring it proceeds securely and fairly without compromising the democratic process,” Cuccinelli said.

Cooper’s office did not respond to inquiries from The Daily Signal by publication time.

Patrick Gannon, a spokesman for the North Carolina State Board of Elections, referred The Daily Signal’s request for comment to the governor’s office, but also sent an email statement from the board arguing that criticism of the state is “uninformed.”

“The State Board of Elections is committed to ensuring every eligible voter is able to cast their ballot, regardless of their circumstances following the disaster,” the board’s statement said, adding:

The affected counties and their staffs are working around the clock to guarantee their neighbors their right to vote. Criticism like this is simply uninformed. It’s also a slap in the face for the dozens of election workers, especially those who are themselves victims of the disaster, who are putting in long hours under trying circumstances to serve their voters.

Hendersonville, North Carolina | Alexander, a resident of Big Oak Park, gave me a tour of his community yesterday.

Many of the trailers destroyed by hurricane Helene are uninsured and
Some belong to families with newborns. @DailySignal pic.twitter.com/XcMQ315EEK

— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyJr1) October 7, 2024

The board provided increased flexibility to these 13 counties: Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey.

The board’s Democratic chairman is Alan Hirsch, president of the North Carolina Healthcare Quality Alliance, a nonprofit focused on rural treatment of opioid addiction and prevention as well as on mental health issues.

Hirsch has donated thousands of dollars to Democrat campaigns, including the state’s Democratic Party, then-President Barack Obama, and Cooper, the sitting governor, according to Open Secrets.

Bell has been executive director of the North Carolina Board of Elections since 2019. She is listed on the board’s website as the state’s “chief elections official.”

Bell previously was the election board’s deputy director beginning in 2015. She oversees 100 county election boards.

Bell has worked in administrative roles for county and state elections since 2006. From 2011 to 2015, she directed the election board in Transylvania County, which is heavily Republican-leaning. Before that, she was a district elections technician for the state board.

In a Monday op-ed in Townhall, former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, a Republican, noted that about 40,000 mail-in ballots were sent to voters in Helene-affected counties and that only 1,000 were returned.

“These hard-hit counties, which supported Donald Trump with 61% of the vote in 2020, are now grappling with slow recovery efforts, unreliable communications, and an inadequate federal response,” Blackwell wrote. “As citizens in rural, heavily Republican regions seek to participate in the democratic process, the state’s electoral integrity is on the line, especially as concerns about political maneuvering grow in the aftermath of the storm.”

Blackwell also warned against sweeping statewide changes that could undermine confidence in the Nov. 5 election.

“Expanding voting measures across the entire state, including areas that were not affected by the hurricane, could open the door to accusations of partisanship,” he wrote. “It’s important that we help the residents of these rural, counties without altering the broader electoral landscape in a way that might be seen as tipping the scales.”

Tim Kennedy contributed to this report. 

Ethan Mollick noted at the time, “There are no alternative sources known” if supply disruptions were seen in Spruce Pines.

The modern economy rests on a single road in Spruce Pine, North Carolina. The road runs to the two mines that is the sole supplier of the quartz required to make the crucibles needed to refine silicon wafers.

There are no alternative sources known. From Conway’s Material World: pic.twitter.com/mYfrfub8dw

— Ethan Mollick (@emollick) March 9, 2024

Fast-forward to this past weekend across the Western North Carolina area, where a major disaster continues to unfold after tropical system Helene dumped torrential rains and unleashed devastating floods that pulverized entire towns, destroyed roads, highways, and bridges, and left tens of thousands without power.

Absolutely horrid photos coming out of Spruce Pine, NC. right now, as buddies of mine are on the ground helping #Helene victims. pic.twitter.com/35fDndq7iy

— Carolina Patriot (@ACarolinaGuy) September 29, 2024

I have asked for pictures on facebook. I joined the Let’s Talk #SprucePine #NC page. 12K+ Hundreds of families have loved ones unaccounted for…the roads into Spruce Pine are not passable. Bridges are collapsed. People are scared and desperate. Spruce Pine needs the… pic.twitter.com/FttEYIW3Ai

— Gretchen Smith (@MAGAgpsmith) September 28, 2024

The CSX rail between Erwin, TN and Spruce Pine, TN is unrecognizable, and in some cases, completely missing, lost to the floods created by #Helena. Could take months to open the route again. Terrible thing to happen. pic.twitter.com/QqhrsBDrPz

— Jags Board Game & Movie Guy (@MoviePaul) September 28, 2024

I have friends that live in flood warning areas of Winston Salem NC & Newport & the ones im really worried about live not far out of Spruce Pine NC & cant get a hold of them yet.
Not sure how updated below info is pic.twitter.com/yQJ4yC2WtK

— ⊕ֿֿֿֿBliTzer ツ (@blitzer850) September 28, 2024

Just took this pic moments ago from Fox… just short of two *feet* of rain at Spruce Pine… pic.twitter.com/vZySfAvmw7

— 4CatDoc (@4CatDoc) September 30, 2024

Back to Mollick. He shared with his followers a detailed list of the top miners in Spruce Pine, highlighting Sibelco North America, known for producing ultra-high-purity quartz used in refined silicon wafers.

Really nice deep dive into the reasons why Spruce Pine is so important. https://t.co/OdUODRnDOB

— Ethan Mollick (@emollick) March 9, 2024

As of Monday morning, Mollick’s worst fears could be realized as Google Traffic data shows road closures around the Sibelco mining facilities and across the entire region.

A 2018 note from Wired shows just how critical Spruce Pines area mines are for semiconductor production: “A fire in 2008 at one of the main quartz facilities in Spruce Pine for a time all but shut off the supply of high‑purity quartz to the world market, sending shivers through the industry.”

Earlier this year, Tom’s Hardware cited Mollick’s X posts, saying the Wharton professor “provides an excerpt from Conway’s Material World, which discusses the probable “end of computer chip manufacture as we know it,” should something untoward happen at Spruce Pine or in the skies above it.”

Here’s what folks on X are saying about Spruce Pines…

Almost every crystalline silicon photovoltaic module and semiconductor chip made in the world today relies on this mining district in western North Carolina. https://t.co/0U6fAapjiN pic.twitter.com/FiURjlLQoW

— Dustin Mulvaney (@DustinMulvaney) September 29, 2024

Oh joy, what a great time to find out that a massive supply bottleneck for computer chips and solar panels exists right by a river in western North Carolina… https://t.co/CL3AyFH44w pic.twitter.com/gbdlk7BKQQ

— Sean – Alberta Nuclear (@AlbertaNuclear) September 29, 2024

How do I express that I’m concerned about the people of western NC and I’m also concerned about the potential future global economic disaster because Spruce Pine is the sole producer of ultra pure Quartz for crucibles that all global semiconductor production relies on? pic.twitter.com/pcg4bonoJn

— Fossil Locator (@FossilLocator) September 29, 2024

There has been no confirmation from the miner about any disruption. Well, not as of Monday morning.