Photo courtesy of Piedmont Lithium

The proposed Carolina Lithium operation will become a critical part of the American electric vehicle supply chain, Keith Phillips, Piedmont Lithium’s president and CEO, said in a statement.

Piedmont Lithium's plans to build a new $1.2 billion mine and processing plant in Gaston County, N.C., just took a major step forward.

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), through its Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources, has approved Piedmont Lithium's mining permit for the construction and operation of its Carolina Lithium project, the Belmont, N.C.-based company said April 16.

Lithium is used in batteries to power electric vehicles, bicycles and personal electronic devices like cell phones. North Carolina is among just a handful of places in the world where lithium mining is possible.

The proposed Carolina Lithium operation will become "a critical part of the American electric vehicle supply chain," Keith Phillips, Piedmont Lithium's president and CEO, said in a statement.

Albemarle Corp., based in Charlotte, also is in the approval process to reopen a lithium operation in Kings Mountain, west of Charlotte.

Piedmont Lithium submitted its proposal in August 2021 for a new lithium mine in the Hephzibah Church Road area on more than 1,500 acres east of Cherryville in Gaston County, about 25 mi. west of Charlotte.

Construction Likely to Get Under Way in 2025

Carolina Lithium will be a fully integrated mining, spodumene concentrate and lithium hydroxide manufacturing operation, Phillips explained. Lithium is extracted from spodumene found in pegmatite, a granite rock found in the area.

Piedmont's open-pit lithium mine, similar to a quarry, will be up to 500 ft. deep, and see blasting once each day, the Observer previously reported. The company expects to hire over 400 employees at an average salary of $82,000.

With the NCDEQ approval, Piedmont Lithium can now proceed with the county rezoning process.

Construction is expected to begin in 2025 after all required permits, rezoning approvals, and project financing, including loans from the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office, are in place, Phillips said.

Piedmont's open-pit lithium mine, similar to a quarry, will be up to 500 ft. deep, and see blasting once each day, the Observer previously reported. The company expects to hire over 400 employees at an average salary of $82,000.

State Approval Clears Just One of Company's Hurdles

North Carolina's approval of the operation removes one of several hurdles for Piedmont Lithium.

In February, the company laid off 27 percent of its workforce as part of a cost-savings plan, as lithium prices tanked and electric vehicle sales slowed. Piedmont had 60 employees before the layoffs, leaving the company with about 44 workers.

Piedmont's plan also has drawn protests over environmental and health concerns.

Along with its Gaston County mine, Piedmont has joint mining operations with Sayona Mining in Quebec, Canada, and Atlantic Lithium in the West African country of Ghana as well as another project in Tennessee.

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 the 1980s. The mining company also has a contract to supply lithium to Tesla, the largest electric vehicle manufacturer in the world.

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