Another Charlotte-area lithium mining company is cutting jobs, as part of a $10 million cost-cutting plan amid falling prices for the mineral used for electric vehicle batteries and other devices.
Piedmont Lithium laid off 27% of its workforce, the Belmont-based company said Tuesday. The cost-savings plan includes reducing capital and operations spending. The majority of the cost savings are expected to be completed in the first quarter.
Piedmont had 60 employees before the layoffs, company spokeswoman Erin Sanders told The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday. That would leave the company with about 44 workers.
“These cost reduction actions, while difficult, are necessary to position the company for the long-term,” Piedmont Lithium CEO Keith Phillips said Tuesday in a statement.
Piedmont’s cuts — the latest in the industry — come as lithium prices plummet and demand for electric vehicles slows. Lithium-ion batteries power electric vehicles, or EVs, as well as cell phones and medical devices.