| Kings Mountain Mine | |
| Coordinates: | 35.2215°N -81.35°W |
| Place: | Kings Mountain |
| State/Province: | North Carolina |
| Country: | United States |
| Products: | Lithium |
The Kings Mountain Mine is a large open-pit mine on the south side of the eponymous town of Kings Mountain and north of Interstate 85 in Cleveland County, North Carolina. Its open-pit has been excavated in one of the largest bedrock lithium deposits in the United States.[1] In 2013, it was reported that the Kings Mountain mine had reserves amounting to 45.6 million tonnes of lithium ore grading 0.7% lithium thus resulting 0.32 million tonnes of lithium.[2] In 2017 it was reported that the Kings Mountain pegmatite district had 5.9 million metric tons of lithium.[3]
The first mining operations in the Kings Mountain area was for gold, which started after it was discovered in the area after 1834. The Kings Mountain Gold Mine operated intermittently until was closed in the early 1900s. In 1880, prospectors discovered cassiterite, tin ore, in the pegmatites within a 20miles wide, 110miles long, north-south trending zone of bedrock that became known as the Carolina tin belt and later the King Moumtain belt.[4] In addition to gold, minor quantities of gem spodumene were mined as early as 1880. The Carolina tin belt became known as the tin-spodumene belt after L.M. Williams found large spodumene deposits in it in 1935. The mining of cassiterite proved uneconomic and was replaced by the production of spodumene as a source of lithium.[5] [6]
During World War II, Solvay Process Company operated from May 1942 to February 1945 a flotation plant for production of spodumene concentrate from ore excavated from the Kings Mountain Mine. The operation had a daily capacity of 300ST of ore and the production of ore during this period was less than 15000ST. The Kings Mountain Mine and associated ore processing plants shut down with the reduction of wartime demand for lithium chemicals, including high temperature engine grease and resulting cancelation of government contracts. Foote Mineral Company acquired the Solvay plant in 1950.[5] [7]
In the fall of 1950, Foote Mineral Company acquired the Kings Mountain Mine and ore mill. The mine and mill were renovated. The production of concentrates started July 29, 1951.[5] Because the recovery of lithium carbonate from hard rock mining operations was uneconomic when compared with less labor- and energy-intensive recovery of brine technology, Foote Mineral Company closed its Kings Mountain Mine and let it flood in 1996.[8]
In 1996 Cyprus Amax acquired Foote Mineral Company and along with it the Kings Mountain Mine. In 1998, Cyprus Amax sold both to Chemetall GmbH, a subsidiary of Metallgesellschaft, which is part of the Dynamit Nobel Group. Later, in 2012, Rockwood Lithium acquired the Kings Mountain Mine. In 2015, Rockwood Lithium sold it to its present owner, the Albemarle Corporation, who currently is actively working on reopening it and resuming mining.[8]