Backed by DOD, BSNC, Graphite One completes drill program to support study of graphite supply chain critical to US

Thanks in large part to substantial backing and support from the U.S. Department of Defense and Bering Straits Native Corp., Graphite One Inc. completed a 57-hole drill campaign at the Graphite Creek project in western Alaska that is focused on accelerating the completion of a feasibility study for developing an advanced graphite material supply chain in the United States.

"Our team's impressive effort put us well on the way to completing the feasibility study as expeditiously as possible," said Graphite One President and CEO Anthony Huston.

To help fund this expeditious effort, DOD awarded Graphite One $37.5 million in Defense Production Act Title III funding to accelerate the completion of a feasibility study for a graphite supply chain that will begin at the Graphite Creek project about 35 miles north of Nome, Alaska.

This was followed by an initial US$2 million investment and option to invest an additional US$8.4 million in Graphite One by Bering Straits Native Corp., the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) regional corporation for far western Alaska.

"The impressive work of the Graphite One team, which includes local BSNC shareholders, reinforces our decision to support the project," said Bering Straits Native Corp. Director of External Affairs and Public Relations Marleanna Hall. "As a BSNC shareholder originally from Nome myself, I am thrilled by what this project can do for our region."

Considering that China's Ministry of Commerce posted a notice on Oct. 20 that it will be restricting the exports of graphite needed for the lithium-ion batteries that store renewable energy, power electric vehicles, and in countless other cordless electronic devices, a mine at Graphite Creek is also becoming increasingly critical to the U.S.

Critical Graphite Creek

The Graphite Creek project hosts "the largest known flake graphite resource in the USA and is among the largest in the world," according to the USGS. This makes the project within the BSNC region of western Alaska a prime candidate for helping to break America's reliance on imports of a material that is critical to America's energy transition.

With more than 30 million EVs expected to hit global highways each year by 2030 and upwards of 45 million by 2045, the U.S. Department of Energy anticipates that the world is going to need more than eight times more graphite per year than was mined globally during 2022.

The U.S., however, has no domestic graphite mines, leaving the nation heavily reliant on imports from China, which currently produces more than 60% of the world's mined graphite and nearly 90% of the advanced anode material for lithium batteries.

This is why DOE ranks graphite near the top of its list of minerals critical to America's energy future, and the Pentagon is investing in Graphite One's plans to not only establish a graphite mine in Alaska, but also a hydro-powered processing and recycling plant in Washington that upgrades the concentrates produced at Graphite Creek into the advanced graphite materials needed for lithium batteries and other applications.

DOD's investment in an all-American graphite supply chain is in response to a 2022 order from the White House that directs the Pentagon to utilize DPA Title III funding to establish sustainable and responsible domestic production of strategic and critical minerals.

"The United States depends on unreliable foreign sources for many of the strategic and critical materials necessary for the clean energy transition – such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, and manganese for large-capacity batteries. Demand for such materials is projected to increase exponentially as the world transitions to a clean energy economy," the President penned in the memorandum.

China's plans to restrict exports of graphite add another level of urgency to developing domestic supplies of this single largest ingredient in lithium-ion batteries.

Ambitious drill program

Even before China threatened to curb graphite supplies, Graphite One was racing to gain all the information needed to support engineering studies and future permitting requisite to building a mine at Graphite Creek.

Toward this goal, the company completed 8,736 meters of drilling in 57 holes at the world-class graphite deposit. This is roughly four times more drilling than was completed in 2022.

"I commend the Graphite One staff and our contractors for their exceptional execution of what was by far G1's most ambitious summer drilling program – in terms of drill holes and feet drilled – in the company's history," said Graphite One Senior Vice President of Mining Mike Schaffner. "The conversion to a ground-based drilling program was very successful, resulting in much improved performance compared to past years by eliminating weather-related delays and reducing the reliance on helicopter support."

Incorporating the result of the 2022 program, a calculation completed early this year outlined 37.6 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources at Graphite Creek averaging 5.15% (1.9 million metric tons) graphite; plus 243.7 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 5.14% (12.3 million metric tons) graphite.

Five of the 2023 holes were drilled to collect geotechnical data for the purpose of evaluating surface infrastructure sites and hydrology conditions. The remaining 52 holes were designed to upgrade resources along a roughly one-mile core section of the more than 10-mile-long trend of graphite on the property.

Highlights from the 2023 resource upgrade drilling include:

• 9.6 meters averaging 13.19% graphitic carbon in hole 23GC088.

• Nine meters averaging 14.89% graphitic carbon in hole 23GC092.

• 15.2 meters averaging 10.75% graphitic carbon in hole 23GC099.

• 10.88 meters averaging 11.14% graphitic carbon in hole 23GC102.

"The results – 52 graphite intercepts over 52 holes – confirm our confidence that Graphite Creek is truly a generational resource of strategic value to the United States, and we wish to thank the Alaskan Government, our funding partners, local stakeholders, and communities for their continued support in advancing this critical asset," said Huston.

Graphite One anticipates the balance of the assays from the 2023 program will be received by the end of the year and incorporated into the Pentagon-supported feasibility study that builds upon a prefeasibility study completed by the company in 2022.

The 2022 PFS envisioned a vertically integrated graphite supply chain that would produce 49,600 metric tons of spherical coated graphite for lithium-ion batteries and 25,400 metric tons of other advanced graphite products per year.

The U.S. government and North American automakers, however, want to see Graphite One develop a larger supply chain that better matches Graphite Creek's world-class potential to meet the enormous demand being driven by the transition to EVs powered by clean energy.

Click on image for larger 2023 Graphite Creek drill map.

The feasibility study that details a larger mine at Graphite Creek and a processing plant in Washington is expected to be completed by the end of 2024.

Author Bio

Shane Lasley, Publisher

Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.

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