(The Center Square) – A North Carolina Fortune 500 company that a year ago paid $218 million to resolve international bribery probes is getting another $67 million in grant money from the federal government.
Three times in three years, totaling $306.7 million, the federal government has made awards to the Albemarle Corp. headquartered in Charlotte. A key goal is to reopen the nearby Kings Mountain lithium mine that shuttered in 1988.
Friday’s announcement was part of $3 billion in grant awards to 25 projects in 14 states. The money comes from the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021.
Albemarle is the world’s largest producer of lithium. The Biden administration’s push to electrify transportation has resulted in billions poured into the industry, and Friday’s larger nationwide package is part of a goal to reduce Chinese domination in battery production for electric vehicles.
The mine is estimated capable of supporting production of 1.2 million electric vehicles annually for 30 years. Once thought to reopen by late 2026, the date has been pushed back.
The latest $67 million is tied to production of commercial quantities of anode material for next-generation lithium-ion batteries.
In October 2022, Albemarle was awarded $149.7 million from the Department of Energy to “expand domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles and the electrical grid and for materials and components currently imported from other countries.”
In September 2023, Albemarle was awarded $90 million in grant money from the Pentagon to raise domestic lithium output.
The company, on Sept. 29, 2023, resolved investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Security and Exchange Commission into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina said. The investigations were from the company’s participation in schemes to bribe government officials in Vietnam, Indonesia and India between 2009 and 2017 through third-party sales agents and subsidiary employees.
Albemarle, operating 34 locations on six continents, joined the Fortune 500 ranks a year ago and earlier this week was named by TIME magazine one of the World’s Best Companies in 2024. Albemarle bills itself as leading “the world in transforming essential resources into critical ingredients for mobility, energy, connectivity and health.”
The company finished fiscal 2023 with net sales of $9.6 billion, up 31%, and net income of $1.6 billion. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization was $2.8 billion.
