Chemours has announced upcoming mass layoffs in its mining operations in Southeast Georgia, but the company says its Offerman plant will remain operational.
Layoffs will affect two of the 39 employees at the Offerman plant according to a letter from the company obtained by The Times through the Georgia Open Records Act.
“We are planning for Offerman to remain fully operational and continue separating critical minerals which is our core competency,” Chemours’ public relations department said in an e-mail to The Times.
The company’s two other locations in southeast Georgia will see significant layoffs.
Chemours’ Jesup mine will include laying off 10 of the 31 employees there.
Over half — 42 of the 76 employees — at the Chemours Nahunta mine will also be laid off.
The layoffs are scheduled to take effect March 6.
Chemours announced the layoffs this month in filing a legally required WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act) notice with the Georgia State Dislocated Worker Unit.
Though the notice notes that the layoffs are permanent, it also spells out that the mining operations will not be closing.
The reason given for the layoffs is “economic competitiveness.”
Chemours mines in Wayne and Brantley Counties for titanium ore, much of which was planned for use in the company’s own paint pigments; zircon, used for precision castings and staurolite, used in sand blasting.
