Brush Wellman may build beryllium facility in Delta

Cleveland-based Brush Wellman Inc. said Thursday it will build a primary beryllium facility at an existing plant site in either Elmore, Ohio, or Delta, Utah.

The new facility, estimated to cost $40 million to $60 million, is expected to have about 25 workers.

The company had received a $9 million contract under the Department of Defense's Defense Production Act for primary beryllium, a feedstock material used to produce beryllium metal products. Brush Wellman will provide technology, land, buildings and an ongoing operation for the facility, while the government will fund engineering, design and equipment.

The company said its Elmore, Ohio, facility, which closed in 2000, had been the country's only primary beryllium production facility. The Utah operations have supplied hydroxide used to produce beryllium alloys and beryllia ceramics.