The Ports of Indiana on Nov. 12 reported that Lumina Sustainable Materials will invest an initial $14.3 million to establish a multi-mineral processing facility, logistics base, and test laboratory at the ports’ rail-served Jeffersonville, Ind., location on the Ohio/Mississippi river system. It will serve the polymers, electronic glass, coatings, aerospace, building and construction markets.
This will be Lumina’s first U.S. facility. The international supplier of specialized minerals is remodeling an existing building at 1302 Port Road to process minerals and manufacture advanced polymer additives, including concentrates of novel flame retardants, performance modifiers, and lightweight mineral fillers. It is partnering with Ports of Indiana to develop a shared laboratory for research and educational use by community partners and schools.
Lumina primarily processes anorthosite, a silicate mineral, to produce electronic glass, plastics, paint and fiberglass, according to Ports of Indiana, which reported that the product comes from the White Mountain Mine in western Greenland. Anorthosite, it said, will be shipped from Greenland to New Orleans, La., by ocean vessel, then transloaded to barge for transport to Jeffersonville.
“The total value package offered by Ports of Indiana and the state of Indiana is unmatched,” Lumina Sustainable Materials CEO Brian Hanrahan said. “The ability to ship by barge into the Midwest, to leverage logistics facilities and services, and to partner with the port on future expansions and container exports makes Jeffersonville a perfect place for our U.S. processing and research facility. We mapped our target customers for the polymers, coatings and construction industries, and Jeffersonville is in the center of it all.”
“We’re thrilled our Jeffersonville port can serve as a launch pad for Lumina’s first U.S. facility,” Ports of Indiana CEO Jody Peacock said. “We’re excited to partner with Lumina to grow business and develop processing and laboratory facilities to create innovative products and drive further research and education in our community.”
“International companies like Lumina continue to choose Indiana for U.S.-based growth thanks to our pro-growth business environment and skilled talent pipeline,” said Ann Lathrop, Chief Strategy Officer at the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC). “We are excited to welcome Lumina to our ecosystem of innovators statewide that is developing new solutions and creating new products to advance the future economy.”
Based on Lumina’s job creation plans—50 full-time employees by 2027—IEDC committed an investment of up to $725,000 in the form of incentive-based tax credits, according to Ports of Indiana. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning Lumina is eligible to claim incentives once Hoosiers are hired.
The Ports of Indiana has three locations: Jeffersonville, which is just across from Louisville, Ky., on the Ohio River; Mount Vernon, which is in southwestern Indiana and is the closest major port to the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers; and Burns Harbor, which is on the southern tip of Lake Michigan in Portage.
Among the railroads serving the Ports of Indiana are Burns Harbor Railroad, Mount Vernon Railroad, Evansville Western Railway, CSX, Louisville & Indiana Railroad, and Norfolk Southern.
