Less than three hours from Fayetteville, South Boston, Virginia, is home to the first recycled titanium manufacturing plant in the United States.
The tiny town of fewer than 8,000 people was chosen by Charlotte-based company IperionX in 2022 for an $82.1 million facility set to produce 100% recycled titanium for “advanced industries” like electric vehicles and 3D printing, according to a news release from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. The company had considered sites in several other states, including North Carolina, but CEO Taso Arima told Cardinal News it chose Halifax County because of strong support from local and state officials.
As Cumberland County aims to entice the relatively new company American Titanium Metal LLC to bring a $1.3 billion titanium reclamation plant to a 200-acre site off Ramsey Street, what can residents and officials learn from South Boston’s experience?
Here’s what we’ve found.
Different products
According to IperionX’s website, its proprietary technology, developed at the University of Utah by Dr. Zak Fang, claims to produce lower levels of carbon emissions and wastes no titanium in the process.
Details on American Titanium Metal’s process are scant — its CEO has declined interviews with CityView through Fayetteville Cumberland Economic Development Corporation CEO Robert Van Geons — but appear to have some differences. Though Van Geons told the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners at a May 20 meeting that American Titanium Metal’s process is also “100% recyclable,” IperionX’s technology focuses on producing titanium powder. It’s not clear what the potential Fayetteville plant would produce, but Van Geons told CityView the South Boston plant “is different from this project as far as the products produced.”
The South Boston facility plans to produce 125 tons of titanium powder annually in its first phase and 1,125 tonnes annually by the end of 2025, The Gazette-Virginian reported. The plant was originally set to begin operations in early 2024, but a February news release from the company shifted that date to “mid-year 2024.” The first two phases of the project should take about three years, according to the Virginia Development Economic Partnership release.
Incentives
Arima has said in interviews that several factors served as incentives for IperionX to settle on South Boston as the plant’s site:
- Its proximity to a Danville, Virginia, manufacturing site for the U.S. Navy
- The enthusiasm of local and state officials
- An existing 50,000-square-foot shell building the plant could use
According to news releases, IperionX received a $300,000 grant from Virginia’s Opportunity Fund, a $573,000 grant from the commonwealth’s Tobacco Region Opportunity Fund, a $4 million construction allowance from the Industrial Development Authority of Halifax County and $12.7 million from the U.S. Dept. of Defense.
Similarly, Cumberland County officials recently approved $1.3 billion in bonds for the potential Fayetteville project, with the county and the city of Fayetteville each set to provide $535,000 to support water and sewer infrastructure for the plant, CityView previously reported.
No plans have been announced for the state or the federal government to provide any funds for the plant should it come to Fayetteville, though Fort Liberty’s presence may serve as an additional incentive. Titanium has many uses in the defense industry, especially in the production of airplanes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
Jobs
According to the Virginia Economic Development Partnership release, the IperionX facility will create 108 jobs. County officials told the Gazette-Virginian the average salary would be $54,765.
Fayetteville’s plant would bring more jobs at a higher pay level. According to a presentation by Van Geons, the county would see 300 jobs in the first phase of the project and 100 to 150 additional jobs in the second phase. The lowest salary offered would be $85,000, with an average pay of $120,000, he said.
Details have not yet been released on what qualifications the company would seek, though Van Geons noted in his presentation to county commissioners that the new jobs would be especially helpful to Fort Liberty veterans searching for a new career.
Ultimately, the titanium plant’s wages would inject $36 million annually into the Cumberland County economy through company wages alone, Van Geons said.
Pollution
There’s been no word out of South Boston as to pollution concerns around IperionX’s facility, but Cumberland County residents have been vocal about their worries should American Titanium Metal come to town.
Resident Rachel Cepis told county commissioners last month she had major concerns about the project. Cepis lives about four minutes from where the plant would be located.
“My concern with big companies is they don’t know me. They’re not part of my community. They don’t have my best interest in mind,” she said. “So when something happens and there’s a spill or an accident, we, then — the residents that live there — are left to deal with the outcome of that.”
Van Geons said the company would need to obtain a minor air permit from the N.C. Dept. of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality. According to the division’s website, the fee for such a permit is $400, with the permit needing to be renewed every eight years. It is unclear exactly what emissions the plant would produce.
The plant’s only output would be cooling water, which would be fed into PWC’s sewer system to be reclaimed, according to Van Geons.
Van Geons, however, said pollution is not a concern.
“Titanium production in this case is incredibly clean,” he said.
Reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500.
This story was made possible by contributions to CityView News Fund, a 501c3 charitable organization committed to an informed democracy.
