Lithium mine near Charlotte hits milestone. Albemarle shows support amid other cuts

Albemarle Corp.’s commitment to reopening a dormant lithium mine in Kings Mountain hit a key milestone, at the same time the company is cutting costs elsewhere.

The Charlotte-based specialty chemical manufacturer and world’s largest lithium miner is in the early-stage development of reopening the Cleveland County mine, west of Charlotte.

“Kings Mountain just completed a successful drilling campaign with potential for updated resource next year,” Albemarle CEO and chairman Kent Masters said Thursday during a fourth-quarter earnings call. Masters did not specify how much additional spending will go toward Kings Mountain.

North Carolina is among a few places in the world where lithium mining is possible. Large green areas in white pegmatite rock called spodumene are extracted to make lithium. Lithium is used in batteries to power electric vehicles, bikes and personal electronic devices.

Albemarle’s lithium mine is expected to produce about 420,000 tons of lithium-bearing spodumene concentrate per year.

Kings Mountain mine marks milestone

Albemarle is committed to projects like Kings Mountain that are earmarked for strategic investment for the company.

A major milestone for Albemarle, dewatering of the open pit, was completed this month. Albemarle treated and discharged 1.57 billion gallons of accumulated rainwater that had collected in the pit since prior mining operations ended in the 1990s, according to the company’s newsletter emailed Thursday.

Albemarle had conducted nearly 42,000 feet of exploratory drilling over 30,000 hours to support planned mining operations, according to the company’s December newsletter.

Once operational, the Kings Mountain Mine is designed to collect and use stormwater to support most of the project’s operational needs, according to Albemarle.

More about the Kings Mountain lithium mining site

In June 2024, Albemarle unveiled its site plan for the nearly 1,200-acre Kings Mountain lithium mine site.

Albemarle submitted 13 state and federal permits to reopen the dormant lithium mine that closed in the late 1980s. In 2015, Albemarle acquired Rockwood Holdings’ Kings Mountain site.

The company has not said how much the massive project will cost, but such projects can cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Albemarle revenue down but beats expectations

Albemarle also raised its long-term global lithium demand forecast Thursday, citing an explosive growth in the stationary storage market.

For the final three months of the year, Albemarle reported $1.4 billion in total revenue, up 16% from the year before. The full-year total revenue was $5.1 billion, down 5.6% from 2024, but above expectations. Rapid growth in Albemarle’s energy storage business, which supplies battery materials, and cost-cutting measures across the company helped boost efficiency, Masters said.

In a major strategic move to enhance financial flexibility, the company had announced Wednesday that it is temporarily shutting down operations at Kemerton lithium hydroxide processing plant in Australia, effective immediately.

Kemerton was built to enable the development of a Western lithium supply chain. Demand will be covered by other processing plants.

“It follows significant actions we have taken over the past two and a half years to reduce operating costs during an extended period of price volatility in the market,” Masters said. “Unfortunately, recent lithium price improvements alone are not enough to offset the challenges facing western hard-rock lithium conversion operations.”

This step is expected to start “boosting core operating profit” beginning in the second quarter.

Cost efficiency is a primary goal for Albemarle

Albemarle had about $450 million in ongoing, annualized savings across its business last year. It is now targeting an additional $100 million to $150 million in savings this year. This will come from projects in manufacturing, supply chain and corporate, simplifying processes and embedding technology and AI, Masters said.

And the money spent on new equipment and projects was slashed by an impressive 65% from the previous year.

Albemarle plans to keep that spending relatively flat in 2026, while selectively funding strategic projects like Kings Mountain and early-stage development at the Salar de Atacama in Chile, Masters said.

How Albemarle plans to strengthen its bottom line

To make its finances stronger, the company is also selling off parts of the business that are not core to its future.

Albemarle expects to receive about $660 million in cash from recent divestiture of its stake in businesses, including majority interest in its spinoff Ketjen Corp. The cash is earmarked primarily for paying down debt and supporting other central business needs, Masters said.

Looking ahead, the company provided a major update on its global lithium demand forecast, raising its 2030 prediction by about 10%. This significant increase is heavily influenced by the soaring large-scale energy storage market — the huge batteries used for power grids — which saw demand rise by over 80% last year, Masters said.

This growth is driven by the need for stable electricity, strong government backing for renewable energy projects and the rapidly increasing power demands of next-generation technologies, particularly massive data centers and artificial intelligence.

“We see further opportunities for cost and productivity improvements as we simplify our processes and continue to embed technology and AI across our organization,” Masters said.

For 2026, the company projects global lithium demand of 1.8 to 2.2 million tons, representing a 15% to 40% year-over-year increase, driven by both electric vehicle and stationary storage growth.

Albemarle’s struggles amid lithium price drop

In late 2024, Albemarle made additional cost-saving steps, including laying off hundreds employees, following a loss of more than $1 billion as lithium prices fell.

Albemarle eliminated up to 7% of its global workforce, representing 15% of non-manufacturing jobs to save the company $300 million to $400 million each year.

The move came after the company detailed a more than $750 million cost-cutting plan in January 2024. Nearly 1,000 job were cut that year, including an undisclosed number of layoffs in the Charlotte region.

Albemarle also deferred two projects in the Carolinas: a $1.3 billion mega-flex lithium conversion facility in Richburg, S.C., in Chester County, and a $200 million investment to establish Albemarle Technology Park research and development facility in the University City area of Charlotte.

As of Dec. 31, Albemarle had about 7,800 employees companywide, according to the lithium miner’s annual report filed Wednesday with the SEC. That’s down 500 workers from the end of 2024.

Albemarle had about 1,100 employees in Charlotte and Kings Mountain at the time, and now has about 900 workers in the region, according to the company.

This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 5:00 AM.

Catherine Muccigrosso

The Charlotte Observer

Catherine Muccigrosso covers retail, banking and other business news for The Charlotte Observer. An award-winning journalist, she has worked for multiple newspapers in the Carolinas, Missouri and New York.