Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Ames Copper Group outlines expansion, asks county for road and staging help
Loading...
Summary
Ames Copper Group told Cleveland County commissioners it is expanding operations in Shelby, creating jobs and seeking state and county road improvements and truck-staging solutions to manage increased truck traffic from the plant.
Dane Willis, president of operations for Ames Copper Group, told the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners on Nov. 3 that the company is expanding processing capacity at its Shelby site and pursuing federal and local infrastructure support to handle sharply increased truck traffic.
Willis said the facility has already created about 55 jobs in phase one and that the IMC plant on the site employs about 225 workers. He described plans to add additional furnaces and a ‘‘tank house’’ to refine anodes on-site rather than sending them to Canada for processing, a change Willis said would make the site vertically integrated and reduce cross-border transport.
Willis said the plant handles large daily volumes — citing current and planned daily processing figures — and described practical steps the company has taken to limit highway impacts, including building an internal two‑lane ‘‘racetrack’’ to hold trucks, routing flatbed deliveries to a warehouse in Lawndale for overnight transfer, and arranging a truck staging lot through a logistics partner. He asked the county and state for road improvements on Old Bull and Springs Road and related intersections to add turning lanes and traffic controls.
Commissioners and other attendees praised the company’s local investments and community giving. Willis pointed to the company’s local philanthropy and sponsorships and said the company is pursuing federal critical‑mineral funding tied to copper’s designation by federal agencies.
The presentation generated questions about traffic handling and county advocacy; commissioners said staff have signed letters in support of infrastructure requests and will continue to work with the company and state delegations on funding options. No formal action was taken by the board at the meeting on road funding.
What happens next: Commissioners said county staff have already transmitted letters of support for infrastructure improvements and will continue coordination with state and federal representatives.
