Kings Mountain has a long and proud history as a mining town. For more than a century, this region of North Carolina has been known for it geologically rich resources.
Our lithium mine was an important part of the Manhattan Project in World War II that helped develop nuclear power. Decades before this, the company that owned the mine — Rockwood — paused production to focus on resources in Chile. Albemarle acquired Kings Mountain as part of the Rockwood Holdings acquisition in 2015.
Today, the Kings Mountain location not only houses a domestic lithium resource, it also includes our 5,000-metric-ton conversion site that produces battery-grade lithium hydroxide for customers around the world.
Kings Mountain, North Carolina
The headquarters of Albemarle’s North American lithium operations is located in
Kings Mountain, North Carolina. Our 700-acre site sits on one of the richest
spodumene ore deposits in the world and is ISO 9001 certified.
Built in 2012, our world-class 5,000 metric ton battery-grade lithium
hydroxide plant and state-of-the-art 57,000 sq ft Global Technical
Center makes Kings Mountain one of the most sophisticated advanced
lithium material sites in the world.
In addition, this site produces battery-grade lithium hydroxide, lithium bromide,
lithium chloride, USP-grade lithium carbonate, high purity lithium carbonate,
battery-grade lithium metal products and lithium alloy powders. Our global R&D
and Piloting Operations give us the capability to work with customers to develop
a wide range of new lithium-based materials for battery applications.
Download the Kings Mountain fact sheet
The Battery Materials Innovation Center
Our Kings Mountain site also is home to a state-of-the-art, 57,000 square-foot Battery Materials Innovation Center (BMIC). Established in 2021, the BMIC is one of the most sophisticated advanced lithium material sites in the world.
This is a world-class battery materials synthesis and testing facility accelerates Albemarle’s development of new lithium products and their transition to customers. Our work at the BMIC allows us to innovate next-generation battery materials and help customers deliver high-performing, cost-effective batteries for the rapidly growing EV market.
Download the BMIC fact sheet
Safety at Kings Mountain
Safety. At Albemarle it’s more than a priority.
We care about the health and wellbeing of our employees, contractors, suppliers, business partners, and host communities. By fostering a strong safety culture throughout our organization, we are committed to helping ensure that everyone goes home safe and healthy every day. Keeping each other safe is a personal and mutual responsibility that we take very seriously. We operate our sites in accordance with applicate health and safety laws and regulations.
Our emphasis on safety has propelled Albemarle to be a top performing company in the chemical industry. In fact, our injury and illness rates have historically been some of the lowest of chemical producers and we have received numerous local as well as national awards for our safety performance. In addition to manufacturing our products with a focus on safety, we put safety first in the distribution of our products to our customers. To do so, a multidisciplined team assesses and monitors the safety and security issues connected with distribution of our regulated materials. This dedicated team has upgraded our product containers for several regulated products, added improved container routing and tracking systems and defined enhanced training and improved equipment for our haulers.
From engaging with our communities, to managing natural resources, to building stakeholder value – we are committed to sustainability and to doing our part to make the world a better place, today and tomorrow.
Our Community Affairs mine team is committed to supporting the community. Please contact us if you would like to learn more about Albemarle and our work.
Fernando Rodriguez
Director of King Mountain Mine
Contact us:
kmcommunity@albemarle.com
704-734-2775
