Deposit

Kings Mountain

Kings Mountain is a deposit with published resource estimates in North Carolina, recorded in the USGS lithium deposits in the United States selected-sites dataset (2020 release).

Facts on this page last re-verified Aug 18, 2026 — the oldest verification date among its current claims. How we verify.

Location: North Carolina, United States (35.221, -81.356 approx.)

Commodities: lithium

Deposit model: lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite · unclassified

Geology

“The Tin–Spodumene Belt (TSB) along the border of North and South Carolina, southeastern USA, is composed of hundreds of en echelon dikes intruded into amphibolite-facies mica schist and amphibolite. The spodumene pegmatites are unzoned and consist of medium- to very coarse-grained spodumene, plagioclase, K-feldspar, quartz, muscovite, and accessory amounts of beryl, manganoan fluorapatite, triphylite, and cassiterite. The pegmatitic fabric is replaced by a fine-grained saccharoidal albite – quartz fabric that also heals fractures in spodumene and feldspar. Spodumene typically contains about 1% iron oxide, giving the mineral a light green color. Muscovite contains 1–2 wt% FeO and a trace of sodium (0.2–0.6 wt% Na2O). The spodumene pegmatites are sheared, especially in proximity to regional shear-zones, but are not folded.” (Swanson (2012))

Published resource estimates

As compiled by USGS USMIN from the cited studies. Resource classes follow the source; "approximate" flags values USMIN reports as approximations. These are not current company reserve statements.

Material	Class	Amount	Grade	Contained	As of	Reference
lithium oxide (Li2O)	Proven plus Probable	—	1.5 percent	—	Jan 1, 1986	Foote Mineral Company (1986), Page 4 — Foote Mineral Company, 1986, SEC Form 10-K Report, 4 p.
lithium (Li)	Possible	—	0.7 percent	—	Jan 1, 1976	Kesler (1978), Page 284, Table 1 — Kesler, T.L., 1978, Raw Lithium Supplies: Transactions of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum engineers, Incorporated, v. 264, p. 283-284.
lithium (Li)	Proven	—	0.7 percent	—	Jan 1, 1976	Kesler (1978), Page 284, Table 1 — Kesler, T.L., 1978, Raw Lithium Supplies: Transactions of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum engineers, Incorporated, v. 264, p. 283-284.
lithium (Li)	Probable	—	0.7 percent	—	Jan 1, 1976	Kesler (1978), Page 284, Table 1 — Kesler, T.L., 1978, Raw Lithium Supplies: Transactions of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum engineers, Incorporated, v. 264, p. 283-284.

Recorded production

Kings Mountain, Kings Mountain mine: produced an unstated amount of lithium oxide (Li2O) at 1.5111 percent, 1975–1986 (Anstett and others (1990); Foote Mineral Company (1986), Page 23, Table 12; Page 4)

Exploration and site history

Development — In 1976, construction of a lithium carbonate plant was completed, 1976 (Foote Mineral Company (1986))
Active — Mining commenced in 1952 and production ceased in the 1990's, 1952–1990 (Swanson (2012))
Development — Development of open pit mining began in the 1930's, 1930 (Kesler (1976))
Development — In 1981 a facility was added for producing pharmaceutical grade lithium carbonate and in 1982 a facility was added for granulating lithium carbonate, 1981–1982 (Foote Mineral Company (1986))
Discovery — Discovered in the 1930's, 1930 (Anstett and others (1990))

Record imported from USGS USMIN ver. 4.0 (June 2019). Developments after that date appear on facility records, not here; see the methodology.

Sources

U.S. Geological Survey · published Jun 1, 2020 · retrieved Aug 18, 2026 · archive