Advanced materials company Mafic broke ground at its first U.S. facility Tuesday in Shelby.

The company purchased an existing facility at 119 Metrolina Drive last year, and announced its intention to invest in upgrading the building and adding a furnace hall to produce basalt fiber.

With the groundbreaking complete, and renovations underway inside the existing facility since July, officials with Mafic hope to be operational in April 2018.

�It�s a big day for us and hopefully a big day for the community,� Jim Hamilton, Mafic group CEO and project manager of the Shelby site, said.

Mafic plans to invest around $20 million at the Shelby property. Hamilton said the company will need a minimum of 70 employees to operate, but they plan to hire between 80 and 100.

Basalt fiber is most often used as plastic composite reinforcement for added stiffness or strength, but basalt can also be used for high temperature insulation or concrete reinforcement. Mafic products are shipped to buyers in the automotive, aerospace, alternative energy and numerous other industries.

�We�ll be the first company in North America to convert (basalt) into continuous fiber,� Mafic CEO Mike Levine said.

Mafic began operating in 2012, and has a basalt fiber facility in Kells, Ireland. Levine hopes the company�s Shelby facility will bring more visibility and awareness of basalt fiber to U.S. companies that could use the product.

According to Levine, Mafic chose to headquarter Mafic USA in Shelby because of the strong support they received in Cleveland County and Shelby.

Hoke Enterprises is handling the construction of the project. Local officials and Hoke employees were on site to help break ground on the project Tuesday.

�It sounds like it�s very cutting edge and very complementary to a lot of the industry we have in our area,� Shelby Mayor Stan Anthony said. �We�re just thrilled that they�ve chosen our community, and we know our community is going to support them.�

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Casey White can be reached at 704-669-3339 or cwhite@shelbystar.com.