Piedmont Lithium slashes more jobs as it seeks funding partner for Carolina mining project

Piedmont Lithium is cutting more jobs as it looks for a funding partner for its North Carolina mining project near Charlotte in a “challenging” market with low lithium prices.

The Belmont-based lithium mining company has cut a total of 48% of its workforce this year, said Piedmont’s Chief Financial Officer Michael White said Tuesday during the company’s third-quarter earnings call.

The latest round, which slashed another 32% of its remaining employees in various corporate roles in the Charlotte area was made last month, Piedmont spokeswoman Erin Sanders told The Charlotte Observer. About half of the positions cut were remote out-of-state and the rest were based in Gaston County, she said.

It’s Piedmont’s second round of layoffs this year. In February, Piedmont said it was cutting 27% of its employees as part of the company’s $10 million cost-savings plan to reduce capital and operations spending. Piedmont had 60 employees before those layoffs. The number of Piedmont workers is now in the mid-20s, Sanders said, including attrition. The latest round of cuts increased the cost-savings plan to $14 million, White said.

“While lithium markets remain challenging, we have been successful in strengthening our financial position through reductions in operating costs, minimized spending on discretionary capital items, and the arrangement of low-cost working capital financing through a trading company partner,” Piedmont CEO Keith Phillips said.

Piedmont has joint mining operations with Sayona Mining in Quebec and Atlantic Lithium in Ghana, and one in North Carolina in Gaston County.

In August, Piedmont shifted its planned Tennessee hydroxide capacity to Carolina. The $1.2 billion Carolina mine is planned on over 1,500 acres east of Cherryville, about 25 miles west of Charlotte. Lithium-ion batteries power electric vehicles, or EVs, as well as cell phones and medical devices.

Despite electric vehicle sales growth globally, up 23% year over year through September, low lithium prices don’t support “greenfield development,” Phillips said. This will lead to lithium shortages, he said.

“Carolina Lithium is a highly strategic project and important to America’s energy national security but a project of this scale will require stronger lithium markets,” Phillips said.

Other lithium producers are making big cost-savings steps, too.

Last week, Charlotte-based Albemarle Corp. — the world’s largest lithium miner — said during its third-quarter earnings call it is cutting 7% of its global workforce, or nearly 500 employees, representing 15% of non-manufacturing jobs. Albemarle reported an over $1 billion loss for the quarter citing prolonged low lithium prices.

In January, the company detailed a more than $750 million cost-cutting plan, that included job cuts. Albemarle plans to reopen a dormant lithium mine in Kings Mountain, about 30 miles west of Charlotte in Cleveland County.

Both Albemarle and Piedmont’s 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.

What’s next for Piedmont Lithium’s Carolina project

Piedmont is in the process of securing funding for the Carolina project.

The company is looking for a partner that would bring capital and expertise in lithium production, Phillips said.

Piedmont also is in the pre-application process for the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Inflation Reduction Act’s manufacturing credit.

“The loan program offers the potential for long-term, low-cost financing for projects like Carolina Lithium,” Phillips said.

Piedmont also is submitting final required permits after receiving its mining permit for the construction and operation of the project in May from N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. The permits will allow for up to 60,000 tons per year of lithium hydroxide production at Carolina Lithium.

Piedmont has submitted air and water permit applications to North Carolina’s Division of Air Quality, Phillips said.

The local rezoning process will begin once Piedmont receives approval of the permits and has a partner, Phillips said.

The timeline for the Carolina mine project is “up in the air” and dependent on how lithium pricing recovers, company spokeswoman Sanders said. Construction of the Carolina mine had been targeted to begin next year, with first production in 2027, according to Piedmont Lithium’s August project report.

“We have not published a new timeline for the project, but have indicated that the timeline will be subject to conditions such as permitting, approvals, funding, and prevailing market conditions,” Sanders said.

More about Piedmont Lithium

Piedmont’s open-pit lithium mine, similar to a quarry, will be as much as 500 feet deep with blasting once a day, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.

The mine lifespan is over 11 years, or longer. The lithium hydroxide conversion facility has been designed for a 30-year lifespan.

Piedmont’s plan has drawn protests over environmental and health concerns since it was first proposed in 2021. /The project was expected to hire over 400 employees with an average salary of $82,000.

This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 2:21 PM.