Facility

Albemarle Kings Mountain Lithium Project (North Carolina, USA)

Albemarle Kings Mountain Lithium Project; Kings Mountain, Cleveland County, NC. Historically the world's largest lithium mine (operated 1953-1988 by Foote Mineral / Cyprus Foote; produced lithium ore for glass, ceramics, and industrial uses). Albemarle is restarting the site as a spodumene mine to feed a planned domestic US LiOH plant — the only major attempt to create large-scale domestic US lithium hydroxide production from US ore. US DOE Loan Programs Office awarded Albemarle a $149.7M conditional loan in September 2023 (DOE LPO) for the Kings Mountain restart and associated processing. DOD Defense Production Act Title III funding also contributed. Target: mine spodumene ore and convert to battery-grade LiOH domestically — producing IRA-FEOC-compliant material (US-origin, US-processed). Commercial production timeline: first ore production targeted ~2026-2028; LiOH plant still in planning/permitting. This is the ONLY large-scale US domestic LiOH production attempt in the modern era. Source: DOE LPO press release September 2023; Albemarle corporate.