US Magnesium LLC, which mines lithium and formerly mined magnesium from the brines of the Great Salt Lake, plans to lay off 186 workers and idle operations at its Tooele County plant — at least temporarily.
The company said in a statement that the layoffs are “in direct response to the dramatic decrease in lithium carbonate prices over the last two years … due largely to oversupply from foreign producers.” The chemical is essential for developing clean, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which can power phones, computers, cameras and electric vehicles.
The layoffs impacted 85% of the company’s existing workforce.
“Future recovery in pricing is expected to occur and plant operations would resume with a normal pricing structure of the project,” a September notice to the Department of Workforce Services read. “As such, we are hopeful that these layoffs will be temporary in nature, but we are unable to guarantee this.”
Levi Sheffield, the company’s labor relations representative, said that most of the employees’ last day of work was Monday.
The company has long been North America’s largest producer of magnesium, a metal used in alloys, electronics and car parts.
Although the company did not initially reply to requests for additional comment, US Magnesium President Ron Thayer has since noted in a statement to The Salt Lake Tribune that its magnesium plant has not operated for over two years.
In 2023, a study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that US Magnesium’s operations produced up to 25% of smog on the Wasatch Front, contributing to the severity of summer ozone and winter inversion.
But Thayer, in his statement, said measurements taken by state environmental officials show that the NOAA report was “erroneous.” State data shows “there is zero percent correlation between the two issues. General air quality remained unchanged, even as magnesium operations were terminated in 2022,” he wrote.
US Magnesium violated Utah environmental regulations, including exceeding emissions limits, for nearly a decade. The Utah Division of Air Quality, housed in the state’s Department of Environmental Quality, cited the company 30 times between 2013 and 2023.
The violations included releases of hydrochloric acid, chorine and particulates into the air.
The company settled its violations and lawsuits with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality for $430,900 in 2023, which some felt did not match the seriousness of US Magnesium’s violations.
Thayer’s statement responded: “The alleged emissions exceedances during this time period were negligible.” Most of the violations were “largely administrative in nature,” he said, citing “simple test scheduling and report related matters.”
The settlement followed a $50,000 donation from US Magnesium’s parent company, The Renco Group, to Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. The governor appoints the director of the Department of Environmental Quality and members of the Air Quality Board, but a spokesperson for Cox noted at the time that he “has no authority over the Air Quality Board or its decisions and has had no conversations about the settlement.”
Update • 10:55 a.m., Dec. 6, 2024: This story has been updated to add comments from a statement sent to The Tribune by US Magnesium President Ron Thayer.
