W.R. Grace Vermiculite Company Sold
January 16, 2012 No Commentsby Fran Burgess
About 3 miles south of Enoree on the right
side of Hwy 221 stands a company that has
been the workplace for hundreds of area
residents over the years. From 1960 until
the end of 2011, this business was the W.R.
Grace Vermiculite Company; after several
months of negotiations, the business was
recently sold to an investor out of Pennsylvania
and is now known as Speciality Vermiculite,
Inc.
Beginning in the 1920’s, the Universal
Zonolite Insulation Company and their predecessors
had taken what was then a mineral
curiosity and developed uses for it in
the vermiculite industry. Their main mining
operation was at Libby, Montana. In 1946
this company started a vermiculite mining
operation at Tigerville, S.C. In 1956, after
having mined for vermiculite in the Enoree,
Laurens and Union County areas and locating
considerable deposits of vermiculite in
the Enoree area, The Universal Zonolite Insulation
Company decided that a mill must
be built in this area. The mill was named
the “Kearney Mill” to honor Mr. A.T. Kearney,
the President of the Zonolite Company.The Kearney Mill was very successful and
has continued operation to the present.
On an average, 3 or 5 deposits are mined out
each year and new ones opened. All mines
are immediately reclaimed upon completion
of mining as required by state law. According
to Plant Manager, Ron Mercer, “We
have been recognized by the South Carolina
Resources Conservation Commission as
‘Setting the Standard for Mine Reclamation
in South Carolina’.”
At the present time, the company employees
70 workers, both salaried and hourly; the
company has employed up to 135 workers.
When asked why the company was sold,
Mr. Mercer responded, “The vermiculite
business was non-core to the current W.R.
Grace business and was core to the interests
of the buyer.”
Although under new ownership and a new
name, “We are looking forward to expanding
the product line and hope to be at a point
where we need to evaluate adding employees
late in the year, “ states Mr. Mercer.
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