Alabama will be home to the nation’s first large-scale processor of refined graphite, state officials announced.
Westwater Resources Inc., a Colorado-based minerals firm, said its Alabama Graphite Products LLC subsidiary plans to invest $80 million in a first phase of construction in Kellyton, Alabama. A second phase will bring the project’s total cost to $124 million.
The facility is expected to create at least 100 new jobs. Construction will begin late 2021 and the plant will open by the end of 2022.
State officials said the project would make Alabama a leader in the production of graphite, which is needed to make batteries — particularly lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles. Governor Kay Ivey said it would bolster the state’s automotive sector, as well.
“We’re home to four major auto plants, and the ability to source precious materials in state for the lithium-ion batteries used in electric and hybrid vehicles will be a big plus in attracting other manufacturing jobs to the state,” Ivey said in the announcement.
The plant will initially produce about 7,500 tons of battery-grade graphite per year and ultimately expand to 15,000 tons per year. The company plans to import graphite at first, but officials said it would eventually source raw graphite from mining operations in the state’s “Graphite Belt” in western Coosa County.
The company is also slated to receive tens of millions of dollars in state and local incentives.
The state alone will provide nearly $30 million in incentives, along with $925,000 for job training and recruiting. Local incentives, including "tax abatements and free use of 80 acres of industrial park land,” are estimated at $4.7 million. Municipal water services will be upgraded as part of a public-private partnership between the company and Alexander City, Alabama, and state officials said a bridge will be built to access the industrial park.
