Name of the Project
Graphite Creek project.

Location
The project combines a mining operation located on state mining claims near Nome, Alaska, in the US, with a secondary treatment plant located in Washington state.

Project Owner/s
Critical minerals exploration and development company Graphite One.

Project Description
Graphite Creek is planned to be developed as an openpit mine.

Ore will be processed at a nominal production rate of one-million tonnes a year.

Over the life-of-mine, the mine will produce 22.5-million tonnes of ore at an average graphite grade of 5.6% graphitic carbon, along with 50-million tonnes of waste.

Ore material is to be sent directly to the primary crusher or a temporary stockpile located 2 km to the east of the pit. Waste material will be co-mingled with tailings in the tailings management facility located 1.5 km north of the pit. Plant design capacity is based on processing 900 000 t/y of run-of-mine material containing 6.18% graphitic carbon.

The plant will produce about 77 000 t/y of manufactured graphite products.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $1.93-billion and an internal rate of return of 26%, with a payback of 4.6 years.

Capital Expenditure
The mine is estimated to cost $580-million and the secondary treatment plant $661-million.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Graphite One has expanded the mineral reserves at its Graphite Creek project, with a new feasibility study expected to show a threefold increase in projected production compared with earlier estimates. The company plans to file the full study this month.

CEO Anthony Huston has credited grant support under the Defence Production Act for accelerating the feasibility study by 15 months and enabling an expanded drilling programme.
"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 [2022] prefeasibility study (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," Houston has said.

The updated mineral resource and reserve estimate underscores the strategic importance of the project as the US seeks to reduce its reliance on imported graphite, a key material in battery production and other advanced technologies. The feasibility study pit covers only a small portion of the electromagnetic anomaly at Graphite Creek, leaving room for potential further expansion.

Graphite One’s announcement comes amid heightened US government interest in securing domestic critical minerals supply. US President Donald Trump has issued an executive order aimed at increasing US mineral production, a move that aligns with Graphite One’s efforts to accelerate permitting.

"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 has said. 

The current feasibility study forecasts an average production of 75 026 t/y of advanced graphite products.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
JDS Energy & Mining (PFS).

Contact Details for Project Information
Graphite One, email GPH@kincommunications.com.