Canadian junior Graphite One (TSXV: GPH) has published preliminary results from a new feasibility study on its Graphite Creek project in Alaska, revealing a threefold increase in projected production compared to earlier estimates.
According to the results posted Thursday, the Graphite Creek project near Alaska’s west coast hosts 3.72 million tonnes of graphite in 71.2 million tonnes of proven and probable reserves averaging 5.2% graphite. This would allow the mine to produce 175,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate annually for more than two decades.
“With these new results, Graphite Creek is now triple the size when the U.S. Geological Survey reported just three years ago that Graphite Creek was the largest flake graphite deposit in the U.S.,” CEO Anthony Huston said in the release.
Huston credited grant support under the United States’ Defense Production Act (DPA) for accelerating the feasibility study by 15 months and enabling an expanded drilling program. The critical minerals explorer and developer said it plans to file the full study in April and will now move into the permitting stage.
Shares in Graphite One gained 6.6% to close at 97¢ apiece on Thursday in Toronto before adding 1¢ on Friday morning for a market value of $142.8 million.
Trump order
The announcement comes on the heels of an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump aimed at reducing the country’s heavy reliance on mineral imports.
Even before Trump returned to the Oval Office with a pledge to strengthen domestic critical mineral production —particularly in Alaska— Graphite One had already secured federal backing for its plan to develop a complete mine-to-electric vehicle (EV) graphite supply chain in the US.
The ore mined in western Alaska is to be shipped to a processing and recycling plant the company is building in Ohio, where it will be refined into battery-grade anode material and other advanced graphite products.
To complete the supply chain, Graphite One last year secured a deal with electric car maker Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) to provide it with graphite anode material for the batteries going into its EVs.
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