It really evokes Douglas Adams' quip that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

The tech tree both of these people have under their belt are huge, but the work Primitive Technology has to put in to get close to Simplifier's start is still huge. So much work required to get even a bit of metal.

Getting back to the level we're in as as society right now after a global catastrophe is going to a take quite a while. Some of the information to get going again is digital, so accessing might be impossible if things are bad enoguh

"Transactions of the American Electrochemical Society v. 29 (1916)"

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433090838537&se...

SILICON-METAL

A special steel of great importance to electrical industry is silicon steel, used in electrical transformer construction and all alternating-current apparatus. Silicon metal and 75 percent ferrosilicon essential in its manufacture are produced only at Niagara Falls. The ageing of transformer steel has long been the cause of a serious falling off in efficiency. This loss often doubled after a few years' use. Silicon steel does not age. Moreover, its original hysteresis loss is 25 percent less than that of the old type of steel.

The saving in a large generating and distributing system from the generator through step-up and step-down transformers to the motor may be as high as 6 percent. Thus silicon steel, a comparatively unknown product, is saving many millions of dollars annually wherever electric energy is transformed.

Silicon metal as a "preparedness" product is important in the generation of hydrogen for aeronautical purposes. In conjunction with caustic soda it forms the cheapest method of generating hydrogen in the field or on shipboard when portable outfits are required.