US achieves security of graphite supply with G1 Feasibility Study – Richard Mills

2025.03.29

The US could soon have security of supply for a critical mineral that they are currently 100% reliant on China for.

Graphite One (TSXV:GPH, OTCQX:GPHOF) has just announced the updated Mineral Resource and Reserve estimates that will be incorporated in the highly anticipated upcoming Feasibility Study.

The NI 43-101-compliant feasibility study, which includes the updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimates, as well as economic analyses for Graphite One’s Graphite Creek project in Alaska, will be filed under SEDAR+ (System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval) within 45 days of the March 27th news release, meaning it will likely be publicized in April.

“With grant support under the Defense Production Act Title III authorities, Graphite One was able not only to accelerate completion of our feasibility study by 15 months, but also quadrupled our planned drilling program, producing the results we announce today,” said Graphite One’s CEO Anthony Huston. “We will now enter the permitting process with a production rate triple what we projected just over two years ago. The Proven and Probable Mineral Reserve tonnage is 317% of the PFS reserve estimate and the corresponding contained graphite is 296% of the PFS estimate. All of this is based on results from just 1.2 miles of the total 9.5-mile-long geophysical anomaly.”

Graphite One’s announcement follows the publication last week of President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production.” 

The EO signed on Thursday, March 20th invokes emergency powers to boost the ability of the US to produce critical minerals. The idea is to facilitate domestic natural resource extraction to make the country less reliant on foreign imports.

“With President Trump’s new Executive Order, G1 is working with Congress, the Administration, and federal agencies to accelerate our Graphite One supply chain project through permitting and into production, to end the nation’s 100% import dependency for graphite,” Huston added. “With these new results, Graphite Creek is now triple the size when the US Geological Survey reported just three years ago that Graphite Creek was the largest flake graphite deposit in the U.S.”

“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,” Huston said in the March 24th news release.

Graphite One has already received a Defense Production Act (DPA) grant to accelerate the company’s Feasibility Study (FS). 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 later this year.

Mineral resources and reserves

Back to the Graphite Creek project and the announcement of the updated Mineral Resource and Reserve estimates, as Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy noted in his 2025 State of the State address, “subject to securing project financing, construction could begin by 2027 and the mine could be producing as early as 2029.”

Located on the Seward Peninsula, the Graphite Creek property comprises 9,600 hectares of State of Alaska mining claims. The claim block consists of 176 claims. G1’s deposit is entirely on state land. 

The graphite zone is exposed on the surface and strikes east/northeast along the north face of the Kigluaik Mountains. The FS pit and Mineral Reserve and resources footprint represents just 1.9 km of the 15.3-km-long electromagnetic anomaly (Figure 1).

Achieving US security of supply

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 also 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 anode 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.

As Huston is quoted saying above, the soon to be released Feasibility Study anticipates tripling the production rate envisioned in the PFS, which would be 155,439 tonnes, meaning Graphite One could have the capacity to not only meet the US’s annual graphite needs, but have extra to stockpile, in the neighborhood of 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 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.

Conclusion

It is clear to us at AOTH that Graphite Creek, once it is permitted, funded and developed to production, will be an extremely large, long-lived and high-grade mine, producing one of the world’s most important critical minerals: graphite.

Graphite is used as the anode for all lithium-ion batteries, it’s industrial application is indispensable in many sectors and for national defense it’s irreplaceable, it is used in aircraft, helicopters, ships, submarines, tanks, infantry fighter vehicles, artillery and missiles.

Graphite’s war-fighting capabilities — Richard Mills

Hence, the Department of Defense’s support for the project including a $37.5M grant that helped pay for three-quarters of the Feasibility Study.

Anthony Huston and his team at G1 should be congratulated for single-handedly eliminating US dependence on graphite imports. This is a major accomplishment that cannot be overstated.

The mine is in the U.S.: therefore, it faces no tariffs or other trade impediments. Once operating, it will have the capacity to supply all of US graphite needs without having to rely on China or other foreign importers.

And this just in: According to Bloomberg,

A new executive order signed last week aims to streamline permitting, open up federal lands to mineral production, and unlock funds for mining and processing projects. But more can be done. Although the Pentagon says it’s on track to develop a “mine-to-magnet” supply chain to meet defense needs by 2027, for instance, current stockpiles are too small to handle even a relatively short cutoff in supplies. Funding and inventories should be boosted to insure against a more protracted conflict.

We at AOTH are thrilled at the news put out by Graphite One on updated Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimates for Graphite Creek, and the announcement that the Feasibility Study will be coming out in April.

In working with Graphite One for the past five years, we are excited to have been a very small part of this successful domestic US mining story that is only just getting started.

Graphite One Inc.
TSXV:GPH, OTCQX:GPHOF
2025.03.28 share price: Cdn$0.95
Shares Outstanding: 137.8m
Market cap: Cdn$132M
GPH website

Richard (Rick) Mills
aheadoftheherd.com

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Richard does own 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