Graphite One’s Graphite Creek Project Approved for FAST-41 Federal Permitting Dashboard – Richard Mills

2025.06.07

Graphite One (TSXV:GPH; OTCQX:GPHOF) has reached a major milestone on the road to production at its Graphite Creek mine.

The Vancouver-based company announced on June 3 that the Graphite Creek project in Alaska — the upstream anchor for Graphite One’s complete US-based graphite supply chain — has been accepted as a “covered project” on the US government’s “FAST-41 Permitting Dashboard”.

Graphite Creek is the first Alaskan mining project to be listed on the dashboard. 

“The approval of Graphite Creek as FAST-41’s first Alaskan mining project is a major step for G1 and our complete U.S.-based supply chain strategy,” Graphite One’s CEO Anthony Huston said in the June 3 news release. “With President Trump’s Critical Mineral and Alaska Executive Orders, Graphite One is positioned at the leading edge of a domestic Critical Mineral renaissance that will power transformational applications from energy and transportation to AI infrastructure and national defense.” 

FAST-41 streamlines the permitting process by providing improved timeliness and predictability by establishing publicly posted timelines and procedures for federal agencies, reducing unpredictability in the permitting process. FAST-41 also provides issue resolution mechanisms, while the federal permitting dashboard allows all project stakeholders and the general public to track a project’s progress, including periods for public comment. 

An important distinction must be made between Graphite One being accepted as a covered project on the dashboard versus a transparency project on the dashboard.

A transparency project focuses on making project information readily available and accessible to all stakeholders. This includes sharing project goals, progress, and any challenges encountered. In contrast, a covered project refers to a project that is subject to specific regulations or guidelines, often meaning that certain aspects of the project are subject to oversight or monitoring.

The Graphite Creek project is found on page 2 of the FAST-41 Covered Projects, which are listed in alphabetical order. The Department of Defense and the US Army Corps of Engineers are listed as the agencies responsible for the project, which has a status of “Planned”.

Established in 2015 by Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), the Permitting Council is a federal agency charged with improving the transparency and predictability of the federal environmental review and authorization process for certain critical infrastructure projects. The council coordinates federal environmental reviews and authorizations for projects that seek and qualify for FAST-41 coverage.

Feasibility Study

FAST-41 status follows publication of Graphite One’s Feasibility Study (FS) on April 23, which, with the support of the Department of Defense Production Act award ($37.5 million), was completed 15 months ahead of schedule. Annual graphite concentrate capacity of the Graphite Creek mine in the FS was increased from that in the 2022 Prefeasibility Study (PFS) from 53,000 tonnes per year (tpy) to 175,000 tpy while maintaining a 20-year mine life. Measured plus Indicated Resources increased to 322% of the PFS resource. The FS projects a post-tax internal rate of return of 27%, using an 8% discount rate, with a net present value of $5.03 billion and a payback period of 7.5 years.

Thanks to the FS, the Graphite Creek project has entered the permitting phase with a production rate triple that was projected two years ago.

‘Circular economy’

Graphite One has received strong support from the US government for developing its “made in America” graphite supply chain anchored by Graphite Creek in Alaska, the largest graphite deposit in the country and one of the biggest in the world.

Graphite One plans to develop a “circular economy” for graphite. Its supply chain strategy involves mining, manufacturing and recycling, all done domestically — a US first.

Subject to financing, the company plans to invest $435 million to build a graphite product manufacturing plant in Trumbull County, Ohio, between Cleveland and Pittsburgh. The plant would produce Active Anode Materials, first using synthetic graphite, and then, once the Graphite Creek mine is in production, using natural graphite.

Executive Orders

President Trump has signed several executive orders of relevance to Graphite One and Graphite Creek.

Regarding Trump’s March 20 executive order, Graphite One said it welcomes the EO, titled “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production.” 

“This new Critical Minerals Executive Order serves as the strongest signal yet that the U.S. Government has not only recognized the national security need for critical minerals including graphite, but that there will now be a ‘whole of government’ engagement to accelerate domestic development,” Graphite One’s CEO Anthony Huston said.

The full text of the executive order can be found here, on the presidential actions page of the White House website. 

The Critical Minerals EO follows three executive orders issued by President Trump on his first day in office: “Declaring a National Energy Emergency,” “Unleashing American Energy,” and “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” referenced in the Jan. 23 Graphite One press release.

The EO tasks the secretaries of defense, energy and interior with actions requiring responses within 10, 15, 30 and 45 days, and waives related legal requirements under the “national emergency” provision of the Defense Production Act (DPA). 

The EO aligns with the focus on Alaska’s role in US resource development, hosting 49 of the 50 US government-designated critical minerals. As Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy noted in his 2025 State of the State address, “the Graphite One deposit, the largest in North America, north of Nome, continues to move ahead with support from a Defense Department grant. Subject to securing project financing, construction could begin by 2027, and the mine could be producing as early as 2029.”

Grants and loans

Two Department of Defense grants have been awarded to Graphite One, one for $37.5 million – paying 75% of the cost of the Feasibility Study, the other for $4.7 million — the latter to develop an alternative to the current firefighting foam used by the US military and civilian firefighting agencies, using graphite sourced from Graphite Creek.

In addition, G1 qualifies for federal loan guarantees worth $72 billion.

G1 has also received a $325 million non-binding Letter of Interest from the EXIM Bank for the construction of the company’s Ohio-based anode manufacturing plant. Both DPA and EXIM are among the agencies that will have expanded critical mineral authorities under the new EO.

Graphite One signs key technology agreements with leading AAM manufacturer; receives LI for $325 million in EXIM financing – Richard Mills

G1 expects to submit a formal application to EXIM in 2025. 

Political backing

Graphite One’s “covered project” status on the FAST-41 Permitting Dashboard drew strong support from leading Alaska public officials.

“America’s dependency on foreign minerals and metals is a drag on our economy and a danger to our national security,” said Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy.  “As the largest natural graphite deposit in the nation, adding Graphite Creek to the FAST-41 Permitting Dashboard sends a strong signal that Alaska is key to U.S. Critical Mineral development.”

“Graphite One’s addition to the FAST-41 permitting dashboard is yet another indication that this project is a national priority of strategic importance,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski. “There is no question that developing the largest natural graphite deposit in all of North America is far better for our economy, security, and competitiveness than importing the entirety of our supply from unstable nations like Mozambique. I thank the Trump administration for adding Graphite One to the dashboard and look forward to the day this project comes online.”

“I want to congratulate Graphite One, which has achieved this milestone thanks to funding from the Defense Production Act, something I have been working on relentlessly in the Senate since the project’s inception,” said Senator Dan Sullivan. “This project has the potential to open up our state’s abundant reserves of critical minerals and metals, which would also be very significant for our country’s national security. We must end America’s dependence on China for critical minerals, like graphite, resources that are necessary for alternative energy and sources and critical defense technologies. Thankfully, President Trump understands our state’s great potential and is determined to help unleash our vast resources and create good paying jobs to Alaskans. Graphite One’s FAST-41 status is great news for our state and our country.”

“Securing our supply chains for critical minerals is a core priority and requires a whole of government approach,” said Alaska Congressman Nick Begich. “Our national security, sovereignty, and continued self-determination require that we take action, and Graphite One is leading the way.”

Achieving US security of supply

Thanks to Graphite One, the US could soon have security of supply for a critical mineral that they are currently almost 100% reliant on China for.

China is by far the biggest graphite producer at about 80% of global production. It also controls almost all graphite processing, establishing itself as a dominant player in every stage of the supply chain.

China accounts for 98% of announced anode manufacturing capacity expansions through 2030, according to the International Energy Agency.

China has imposed restrictions on Chinese graphite exports. Exporters must apply for permits to ship synthetic and natural flake graphite.

Up to now, the US has had no security of supply for graphite. The country has reached a point where much more graphite needs to be discovered and mined in the US.

Graphite One could take a leading role in loosening China’s tight grip on the US graphite market by mining feedstock from its Graphite Creek project in Alaska and shipping it to its planned graphite product manufacturing plant in Voltage Valley, Ohio.

Consider: In 2024, the US imported 60,000 tonnes of natural graphite, of which 87.7% was flake and high purity.

The Feasibility Study anticipates tripling the production rate envisioned in the PFS, which would be 175,000 tonnes, meaning Graphite One could have the capacity to not only meet the US’s annual graphite needs, but have extra to stockpile, roughly 100,000 tonnes each year. This additional graphite could be put to domestic usage or built up to accommodate future demand growth.

All of this is based on the results of just 1.9 km of the 15.3-km-long geophysical anomaly. The resource remains open down dip and along strike to the east and west. Graphite Creek is now triple the size when the US Geological Survey reported three years ago that it was the largest flake graphite deposit in the US. And it could get even bigger with further exploration. We are talking about a potential life of mine (LOM) that provides all the graphite the US needs spanning across generations.

Graphite One Inc.
TSXV:GPH, OTCQX:GPHOF
2025.06.04 share price: Cdn$0.91
Shares Outstanding: 146.2m
Market cap: Cdn$133.1m
GPH website

Richard (Rick) Mills
aheadoftheherd.com

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Richard owns shares of Graphite One Inc. (TSXV:GPH) GPH is a paid advertiser on his site aheadoftheherd.com

This article is issued on behalf of GPH