In North Carolina, Trump announces 'big plant.' Details remain scarce.
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President Trump invites U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, left, on stage to speak during a rally in Greenville, N.C., on Oct. 20. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
On stage in Greenville on Tuesday, President Trump touted breaking news for the state of North Carolina. Sibelco, a quartz mining company with a big operation in Spruce Pine — more than 300 miles from Greenville — was planning a major expansion.
- He invited Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on stage to announce the news: "We're announcing Sibelco is going to build silicon manufacturing. It's quartz manufacturing. It is basically the foundation of semiconductors," Lutnick said during the rally, saying it was an investment worth "hundreds of millions of dollars."
Why it matters: A day later, it remains unclear exactly what Sibelco, one of the largest employers in rural Mitchell County, is planning or what the government is offering.
Driving the news: The announcement on stage appeared to catch many off guard. The state's Commerce Department declined to comment. Mitchell County's economic development arm declined to comment, other than to say it was waiting on word from Sibelco.
- For its part, Belgium-based Sibelco said it was awaiting more information from the U.S. government.
- "Sibelco is aware of recent public comments regarding a potential project involving the company in North Carolina," a spokesperson for the company said in a statement. "At this time, we are awaiting the official communication from the U.S. Government and are therefore not in a position to comment or provide information beyond what has been publicly announced through official channels."
Between the lines: While Trump called the announcement a "big plant" and "very big deal," it remains to be seen exactly what is in store. The White House has not yet responded to a request for more information.
- Sibelco had previously announced in 2023 a $500 million expansion of its Spruce Pine site. But it is unclear if Tuesday's announcement is related to that.
- The Trump administration has used its Department of War and Department of Commerce to invest heavily in companies and sometimes take ownership stakes, as it has with the Durham magnets startup Vulcan.
- Trump also touted on Tuesday a $1.5 billion conditional commitment from the War Department to Durham-based Wolfspeed that is meant to bolster the struggling semiconductor maker.
State of play: Sibelco's Spruce Pine operations play an incredibly important role in the global economy.
- Spruce Pine is one of the few places in the world to mine high-purity quartz. The mineral is an essential ingredient of chips in countless products, including medical devices, solar panels, cell phones and the chips powering the latest tech craze: artificial intelligence, Axios previously reported.
- It is such an important source for the supply of quartz that the plant made international news during Hurricane Helene, which did inflict some damage on its operations.
What they're saying: Bill Slagle, executive director of Mitchell County's Economic Development Commission, declined to speculate about the company's plans, but labeled it an incredibly important company for his county, with more than 400 employees.
- "Their presence here is of the utmost importance to us," he said, adding it is "the kind of good news that you like to wake up to."