NC lithium mining company lays off 27% of its workers, part of $10M in cost cutting
Another Charlotte-area lithium mining company is cutting jobs, as part of a $10 million cost-cutting plan amid falling prices for the mineral used for electric vehicle batteries and other devices.
Piedmont Lithium laid off 27% of its workforce, the Belmont-based company said Tuesday. The cost-savings plan includes reducing capital and operations spending. The majority of the cost savings are expected to be completed in the first quarter.
Piedmont had 60 employees before the layoffs, company spokeswoman Erin Sanders told The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday. That would leave the company with about 44 workers.
“These cost reduction actions, while difficult, are necessary to position the company for the long-term,” Piedmont Lithium CEO Keith Phillips said Tuesday in a statement.
Piedmont’s cuts — the latest in the industry — come as lithium prices plummet and demand for electric vehicles slows. Lithium-ion batteries power electric vehicles, or EVs, as well as cell phones and medical devices.
Piedmont has joint mining operations with Sayona Mining in Quebec and Atlantic Lithium in Ghana, as well as two projects in the U.S., in Tennessee and in North Carolina in Gaston County.
Phillips said deferring new projects industrywide has become common “with more likely to come.”
More about Piedmont Lithium
Piedmont Lithium is planning to build a new lithium mine in the Hephzibah Church Road area on over 1,500 acres east of Cherryville in Gaston County. That’s about 25 miles west of Charlotte.
Piedmont did not specify how the cost-cutting measures will impact its Carolina plans. However, Piedmont said it is managing the pace of development and capital spending at its Carolina and Tennessee sites by deferring property purchases, engineering expenses and other development costs.
“Our workforce reduction does not negatively impact our plans for Carolina Lithium,” Phillips said Tuesday in a statement to The Charlotte Observer. “We reduced our headcount as part of our efforts to position the company for the long term and the lithium market recovery that we anticipate.”
Piedmont’s open-pit lithium mine, similar to a quarry, will be up to 500 feet deep, with blasting once a day, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
Piedmont expects to hire over 400 employees with an average salary of $82,000, company spokeswoman Meredith Dugas told The Charlotte Observer on Wednesday.
Construction is targeted to begin in 2025, with first production in 2027, according to Piedmont Lithium’s August project report.
The mine’s lifespan is over 11 years, or longer, according to the report. The lithium hydroxide conversion facility has been designed for a 30-year lifespan.
Last year, Piedmont twice requested more time to provide additional information needed by North Carolina regulators.
The company shifted from a proposed clay liner system to “a more aggressive solution which requires our engineering team more time to develop the appropriate design,” Monique Parker, Piedmont Lithium senior vice president of safety, environmental and health said in a Nov. 16 letter to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.
The process to open the lithium mines includes key permit applications submitted to federal, state and local agencies. Piedmont’s plan has drawn protests over environmental and health concerns since it was first proposed in 2021.
On Jan. 18, Piedmont submitted its response to a third request for additional information to the North Carolina Division of Energy, Minerals and Land Resources. A decision is possible in the coming weeks, according to Piedmont.
If approved, Piedmont would seek local rezoning and permits and state air and industrial discharge permits. State regulators can deny the operating permit for reasons including if the mine poses hazards to nearby properties or the environment.
Carolina Lithium is one Piedmont Lithium’s four projects, according to the company’s website. Production began in Quebec in March. Production in Ghana and Tennessee are pending permits and approval but targeted to begin in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
Layoffs, postponed projects at Albemarle
Last month, Charlotte-based Albemarle Corp. — the largest lithium miner in the world — also cut jobs and is postponing projects as part of a $750 million cost-savings plan.
Albemarle has about 1,100 employees in Charlotte and Kings Mountain, and over 8,000 workers globally.
Tech-industry publication The Information last week said the layoffs impacted 4% of Albemarle’s workforce, or more than 300 employees. Albemarle refused requests from The Charlotte Observer to say how many employees were laid off.
Albemarle also has plans to reopen a dormant lithium mine in Kings Mountain.
Both Albemarle and Piedmont’s Gaston County mines would be in the Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt, which supplied most of the world’s lithium from the 1950s to 1980s. Spodumene is extracted from the rock pegmatite.
