Expanded North Carolina Lithium Facility Opens, Boosting U.S. Production of a Key Manufacturing Material
U.S. Department of Energy, June 29, 2012
Rockwood Lithium is leveraging a $28.4 million investment from the
Recovery Act to expand its lithium production facility in Kings
Mountain, North Carolina as well as its production operations in Silver
Peak, Nevada. The plants will produce lithium hydroxide and lithium
carbonate, which are both used to produce lithium-ion batteries,
dramatically increasing U.S. domestic production of raw and processed
lithium materials. Lithium-ion batteries are a key component in electric
vehicles and other rechargeable batteries for consumer electronics, and
are used in the production of plug-in electric vehicles on the market
today. These batteries can also have a major impact on energy storage
infrastructure, helping to integrate renewable energy sources into the
electricity grid. Between 1980 and 2009, the demand for lithium has
tripled. After holding world leadership in lithium production in the
early 1990s, the U.S. now imports the majority of its lithium materials
and compounds from South America.
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