Aug. 6, 2025
Cleveland County commissioners recently recognized Albemarle in a proclamation noting the company’s “commitment to public safety, community well-being and corporate citizenship.” The formal recognition followed Albemarle’s support for emergency response training opportunities at the Kings Mountain facility.
As part of Albemarle's efforts to redevelop the Kings Mountain Mine, the company purchased several properties and homes on the perimeter of the existing mine property that are expected to primarily serve as a visual and noise buffer.
The company plans to demolish these unoccupied structures before mine construction begins and offered use of several properties and structures to support community emergency training.
Since March, more than 100 emergency responders, students and K-9 officers have participated in emergency-response training on these properties, with more opportunities expected in 2025. Cleveland Community College has conducted two firefighter academies using the properties and plans to use three additional houses for its fire-certification course. Unlike courses that use steel shipping containers with wood pallets and straw added to create burn structures, these properties offer real-world training opportunities to students.
“Acquired structures, like those offered by Albemarle, are much better than the non-combustible structures that we typically use. It makes all the difference. Having acquired structures is like learning to swim in a pool with a deep end,” said Richard Carroll, the fire and rescue training coordinator for Cleveland Community College.
The Kings Mountain Fire Department’s training sessions included 22 firefighters who benefited from the unique training experience. “Live structures provide realistic, invaluable training,” said fire Chief Greg Main. "Our firefighters can see fire growth and behavior that you don’t see with staged burns.”
The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office held K‑9 and narcotics-search exercises in some of the structures, training nine officers and nine K‑9s in realistic residential settings.
Brayden Beaver, mechanical project engineer at Albemarle, has coordinated the efforts with emergency response organizations.
“Safety is always our priority," he said. "When an organization reaches out with an emergency training proposal, we investigate all the requirements to see if we can help them execute.”