Mining with a Mission

July 15, 2025

This is part of a series featuring Albemarle experts who lead the world in transforming essential resources into critical ingredients for powering everyday life. 

Albemarle’s Kings Mountain facility includes a historic mine that’s one of the few hard rock lithium deposits in America. It could play a crucial role in establishing a U.S.-based supply of critical minerals, which are necessary for advanced manufacturing, national defense and energy security. 

Underneath the ground, though, there’s also a sustainability story. That’s where Kwame Frempong and his team explore and examine the lithium deposit.  

“It’s like looking for treasure,” he says. 

Frempong is the site’s lead geologist. He grew up in Ghana, home of some of Africa’s most valuable gold mines, and in high school, he attended a career fair that charted his path.  

While many students talked to doctors and lawyers, he spoke with a geologist. The job immediately appealed to his love of rocks and science, and he was drawn to the idea of contributing to one of the country’s biggest economic engines. 

“I wasn’t just thinking of a role for myself,” Frempong says, “but also something that would positively impact the community.” 

He started his career in one of Ghana’s biggest gold mines before moving to the U.S. and finding his way to the Carolinas. He spent 15 years as a geologist for gold and copper mines, but in 2022, he learned about Kings Mountain—an old mine with a new purpose. 

Kings Mountain is about an hour from Charlotte, North Carolina. His family liked the region, and Frempong loved the opportunity. He’d be leading efforts to determine the quality and quantity of spodumene-bearing pegmatites – hard rock formations that contain lithium. It would be a new challenge that’s far less common than looking for gold and copper, and it would help fuel the growing demand for green energy. 

“The green transition is dear to my heart,” Frempong says. “I couldn’t say no."

Lithium mining began at Kings Mountain during World War II. The military used the element to help create the hydrogen gas needed for observation balloons, to lubricate airplane engines so they could withstand extreme temperatures and to strengthen the structure of aluminum and steel. The site’s lithium again played a role in national defense efforts during the Cold War. 

The mine closed in the early 90s, but Albemarle is working to re-open the site. It’s happening amid bipartisan momentum to bolster the domestic supply chain of lithium. 

To perform geologic work at the site, Frempong’s team collects, analyzes and interprets a wide range of data. That includes drilling exploratory holes that are approximately 200 feet apart and have an average depth of 1,500 feet beneath the surface. Since 2017, more than 400 of these exploratory holes have been drilled across the 1,200-acre site.  

The work has produced more than 350,000 feet of core samples of the site’s geology.   

The team uses this data to develop 3D geologic models to determine the mineral makeup and mineral resource estimates. Those are digital representations of subsurface geologic conditions, the lithium concentration and the orebody geometry, which is the shape of the spodumene-pegmatite. 

“We need to determine the spatial location, size and quality of the lithium deposit,” Frempong says. “This is what helps us plan for the life of the mine.” 

But finding the spodumene-bearing pegmatites is only part of the challenge. Extracting it sustainably is just as important.  

Frempong’s work in advance of potentially re-opening the mine helps Albemarle responsibly manage the site’s natural resources. He’s careful not to move any more material or disturb land more than necessary. And he helps create a circular economy that reduces waste by keeping materials in use for as long as possible. 

Consider the way the team plans to reuse most of the non-lithium bearing rock that will be extracted during mining. Albemarle plans to transfer it to a construction aggregate for use in infrastructure and construction projects. 

For Frempong, sustainability isn’t just a goal. It’s part of his job. 

“You only get to extract the spodumene-bearing pegmatites once,” he says, “so you need to do it efficiently and responsibly.”