Lithium giant Albemarle’s plans to reopen a rich mine in North Carolina will take years to complete
The Albemarle lithium processing facility in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, US, on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022.
Logan Cyrus | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Albemarle‘s plans to reopen a resource rich lithium mine in North Carolina will take longer than originally expected as a collapse in lithium prices weighs on the company.
Albemarle, a top lithium producer, had originally planned to reopen the Kings Mountain mine as early as late 2026 to increase domestic lithium production and support a U.S. electric vehicle battery supply chain.
“It’s going to be a later date,” Eric Norris, president of energy storage at Albemarle, told CNBC. “It slowed down a bit given the concerns we have, but we are still progressing it forward. It’s not that we’ve stopped it.”
Kings Mountain could produce enough material to manufacture 1.2 million electric vehicles annually. The mine sits on one of the world’s richest deposits of spodumene ore, a source of lithium. There is currently only one operational lithium mine in the U.S. in Silver Peak, Nevada, which is owned by Albemarle.
Albemarle does not have a precise date for when Kings Mountain will become operational, Norris said. The company is preparing to start the permitting process, which will take two years to complete. Construction will be a multiyear undertaking before the mine is operational, according to the company.
Albemarle shares over the past year.
The Biden administration has made setting up a battery supply chain, supported by domestic lithium production and processing, a top priority to end dependence on China, which dominates the global market. Albemarle was awarded a $90 million grant from the Defense Department to support domestic mining, which the company is using to help reopen Kings Mountain.
Kings Mountain was an operational lithium mine from 1937 until the 1980s, when the owner Rockwood Holdings ceased operations to focus on resources in Chile. Albemarle acquired Rockwood and the mine in 2015.
Albemarle has come under pressure as global lithium prices have collapsed more than 40% since last year and 81% from 2022 highs, forcing the company to adjust expansion plans. Albemarle put on hold a chemical plant in Richburg, South Carolina, that would have processed the lithium from Kings Mountain.
Albemarle CEO Kent Masters said the industry still needs to add significant capacity as electric vehicle demand remains strong, with more than 20% global growth so far this year, but lithium prices have fallen below the marginal cost of production as supply of the commodity has expanded.
“It’s difficult to justify investment projects where the prices are today,” Masters said.
Lithium prices need to be at a minimum of $20 per kilogram to justify investments, Masters said. The average price in 2023 was $15 per kilogram. The CEO said he expects lithium prices to become less volatile, with lower highs and higher lows, as the market matures.
Albemarle’s profit plummeted 99% to $2.4 million in the first quarter compared with $1.2 billion a year-ago. Revenue fell 47% to $1.36 billion, down from $2.58 billion in the first quarter of 2023.
Though Albemarle took a huge hit compared with last year, the company’s earnings largely met Wall Street expectations, while revenue came in above forecasts. Investors reacted positively to the results with shares closing more than 5% higher at $125.30 on Thursday. On Friday, shares climbed 3% further.
Tesla has inked its first deal to build a grid-scale battery power plant in China amid a strained trading relationship between Beijing and Washington.
The U.S. company posted on the Chinese social media service Weibo that the project would be the largest of its kind in China when completed.
Utility-scale battery energy storage systems help electricity grids keep supply and demand in balance. They are increasingly needed to bridge the supply-demand mismatch caused by intermittent energy sources such as solar and wind.
Chinese media outlet Yicai first reported that the deal, worth 4 billion yuan ($556 million), had been signed by Tesla, the local government of Shanghai and financing firm China Kangfu International Leasing, according to the Reuters news agency.
Tesla said its battery factory in Shanghai had produced more than 100 Megapacks — the battery designed for utility-scale deployment — in the first quarter of this year. One Megapack can provide up to 1 megawatt of power for four hours.
“The grid-side energy storage power station is a ‘smart regulator’ for urban electricity, which can flexibly adjust grid resources,” Tesla said on Weibo, according to a Google translation.
This would “effectively solve the pressure of urban power supply and ensure the safe, stable and efficient electricity demand of the city,” it added. “After completion, this project is expected to become the largest grid-side energy storage project in China.”
According to the company’s website, each Megapack retails for just under $1 million in the U.S. Pricing for China was unavailable.
The deal is significant for Tesla, as China’s CATL and carmaker BYD compete with similar products. The two Chinese companies have made significant inroads in battery development and manufacturing, with the former holding about 40% of the global market share.
CATL was also expected to supply battery cells and packs that are used in Tesla’s Megapacks, according to a Reuters news source.
Tesla’s deal with a Chinese local authority is also significant as it comes after U.S. President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on imports from China, straining the geopolitical relationship between the world’s two largest economies.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk was also a close ally of President Trump during the initial stages of the trade war, further complicating the business outlook for U.S. automakers in China.
The demand for grid-scale battery installation, however, is significant in China. In May last year, Beijing set a new target to add nearly 5 gigawatts of battery-powered electricity supply by the end of 2025, bringing the total capacity to 40 gigawatts.
Tesla has also been exporting its Megapacks to Europe and Asia from its Shanghai plant to meet global demand.
Capacity for global battery energy storage systems rose 42 gigawatts in 2023, nearly doubling the total increase in capacity observed in the previous year, according to the International Energy Agency.
— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed reporting.
Environment
BYD is testing solid-state EV batteries in its Seal sedan with nearly 1,200 miles of range
BYD has now begun testing solid-state EV batteries in its Tesla Model 3-rivalling Seal. Initial tests suggest that the total driving range could reach nearly 1,200 miles (1,875 km).
BYD begins testing solid-state EV batteries in the Seal
It has been over a decade since BYD first began researching and developing the promising new EV battery technology.
Last year, the company reached a milestone by testing its first solid-state battery cells with capacities of 20 Ah and 60 Ah. We knew BYD was planning to launch its first vehicles powered by the new batteries in 2027 after Sun Huajun, the CTO of BYD’s battery business, confirmed the timeline earlier this year.
At the 2025 China All-Solid-State Battery Innovation and Development Summit, Sun stated that BYD has officially installed solid-state batteries in its popular Seal EV and is now testing them on roads.
Once testing is finalized, which is expected to occur in 2027, BYD plans to begin installing solid-state batteries in its production vehicles.
Between 2027 and 2029, production will be limited during the first two years. However, in 2030, BYD plans to begin mass production. BYD has previously said that by the end of the decade, it expects “liquid and solid to be the same price.” In other words, solid-state batteries will be about the same cost as current liquid lithium-ion batteries.
The Seal, BYD’s Tesla Model 3-rivalling electric sedan, is expected to be the first EV available with solid-state batteries, starting in 2027. Other models will begin to hit the market in 2028 and the following years.
BYD’s solid-state batteries have an energy density of 400 Wh/kg, or nearly twice that of current lithium-ion batteries.
According to local reports, BYD’s solid-state EV batteries set a record by gaining 1,500 km (932 miles) range in just 12 minutes of charging.
The test charged the battery to just 80%, meaning total EV range could reach upwards of 1,875 km (1,165 miles). Keep in mind, that is CLTC range. On the EPA scale, it would be closer to 1,300 km (808 miles), which is still way more than enough.
BYD’s Seal currently starts at just 175,800 yuan in China, or about $25,000. When it initially hits the market in 2027 with solid-state batteries, the Seal will likely be priced higher.
Electrek’s Take
BYD is already dominating the global EV market. It just surpassed Tesla in Europe and the UK in monthly registrations for the first time, and this could be just the start.
With several new batteries and plenty of other EV technologies, including ultra-fast chargers, smart driving features, and advanced new platforms, BYD is laying the groundwork for more growth over the next few years.
Not only that, BYD is already known for its low-cost cars like the Seagull (Dolping Surf in Europe), priced under $10,000 in China. The new tech is expected to unlock longer driving range, faster charging, and lower costs.
BYD will compete with CATL, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Stellantis, Nissan, and several others that are also aiming to launch their first EVs with solid-state batteries around 2027 or 2028. Nissan’s director of product planning in Europe, Christop Ambland, confirmed the company’s timeline this week with Auto Express, saying, “We will be ready for SSB (solid-state batteries) in 2028.”
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