he Kigluaik Mountains stretch 42 miles east to west along the Seward Peninsula just north of Nome. Grizzly bears and moose roam the area, its lakes are home to a unique subspecies of Arctic char, and it’s the site of the Grand Union Glacier, the only active glacier in Western Alaska.

The mountains are also home to Graphite Creek, site of the largest known flake graphite deposit in the United States. Located 37 miles outside of Nome and 3 miles inland from Windy Cove, the deposit contains more than 8 million tonnes of graphite, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) US Mineral Deposit Database.

Vancouver, Canada-based tech company Graphite One hopes to make that deposit the linchpin of a three-pronged project that will increase the North American supply of graphite and reduce US dependence on foreign sources of the mineral.

“Our goal is to create the first dominant [graphite] supply chain in the history of the United States,” Graphite One founder and CEO Anthony Huston said of the company’s plans in 2020.

Graphite One isn’t the first company to extract graphite from the hills of Nome, though it is the most ambitious. At the start of the 20th century, Minnesota couple Nicholas and Evinda Tweet came to Nome in search of gold, Huston says. They formed N.B. Tweet & Sons and acquired 176 mining claims spread across 23,680 acres. During the first and second World Wars, the company turned its attention to extracting graphite, which it sold to steel manufacturers in Seattle and San Francisco to aid the war effort.

Huston learned of the graphite deposit in 2012 and obtained permission from the Tweets’ descendants to extract and test graphite from their claims to determine whether it could be used to produce lithium-ion batteries. After tests confirmed it could, Graphite One purchased 163 of the Tweets’ original claims and leased the remaining 13.

Since then, the company has worked steadily to get the Graphite Creek project online and, despite some COVID-19 related setbacks, is on track for first production to begin in 2028.

A naturally occurring form of crystalline carbon, graphite is soft and easily split, yet extremely heat resistant and nearly chemically inert. These properties suit a variety of practical, everyday uses. Graphite is a vital component in batteries that power laptop computers, LEDs, smartphones, and electric vehicles, as well as being used to make solar cells and nuclear reactors. Because of its versatility, it is consistently included on the USGS’ annual list of minerals critical to the US economy and national security.

Despite its critical status, graphite has not been produced in the United States since the ‘50s, according to the USGS, and the country’s last known graphite mine, located in Montana and operated by United Minerals, closed in 1990. This makes the United States 100 percent dependent on foreign sources to meet its graphite needs. In 2021, the USGS reports that the United States imported 53 tonnes of graphite, primarily from Canada, Mexico, and China.

Graphite One plans to reduce that foreign dependence with a vertically integrated operation that will mine, refine, and recycle high-grade anode materials and provide the United States a domestic source of this critical mineral.

“Graphite One is anchored by our Graphite Creek project, but we are more than just a mine,” Huston says. “We know we have to build out a full domestic advanced graphite supply chain. It’s a full circular economy approach. Nothing less than that will get the United States back in the graphite game, at a time that graphite is key to so many high-tech transitions.”

The approach begins with the Graphite Creek mine, planned as a one-mile long, half-mile wide open pit up to 1,000 feet deep. The year-round truck and shovel operation is expected to mine four million tonnes of graphite annually, with one million tonnes delivered to the adjacent processing plant. From there, graphite mineralization will yield 60 thousand tonnes of graphite concentrate, which will be shipped from Nome to Graphite One’s manufacturing plant in Washington.

The Washington plant will pelletize and thermally purify the graphite to a minimum concentration of 99.9 percent. It will then be air-milled, turned into spheroid particles, and coated and graphitized. The process is expected to yield 41,850 tonnes of battery-grade coated spherical graphite, which can be used in electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries, and 13,500 tonnes of advanced graphite materials, which can be used in energy storage systems and a range of manufacturing supply chains.

Capacity at the Graphite Creek camp expanded in 2022 from 24 to 60 workers. Once production begins, the mine is expected to employ up to 200 workers year round.

Graphite One

“Graphite One anticipates that the electric vehicle and energy storage sectors will soak up around 70 percent of our production, with the remainder going to established industrial applications and new technology uses,” Huston says.

In 2020 Huston said the worldwide demand for graphite was driven by the push toward green technology, specifically electric vehicles. At the time, the World Bank projected that worldwide demand for graphite would increase by 383 percent by 2050. It has since revised its projections and anticipates that demand will increase by 494 percent.

“The primary demand driver comes from the tightening timelines to transition to electric vehicles, added on top of the existing industrial demand for graphite,” Huston says.

The tightened timelines are coming on both the domestic and global fronts. As part of his Build Back Better agenda, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that requires at least 50 percent of all new vehicle sales be zero-emission by 2030. Globally, China has pledged that 40 percent of all new vehicles will be zero-emission by the end of the decade, and the European Union has committed to having at least 30 million electric vehicles on the roads by 2030.

Though graphite’s role in the creation of lithium-ion batteries usually takes center stage in conversations about the mineral, Huston says there is an increased demand for graphite in other applications as well.

“While battery applications get most of the media attention, graphite demand for other technology applications continues to evolve, which is where graphene comes into play,” he says.

Graphene—sheets of carbon atoms that, stacked together, make graphite crystals—can boost the capacity, longevity, and charge rate of lithium-ion batteries. Researchers are also examining its ability to improve energy generation and potential uses in the biomedical field, including targeted drug delivery, improved brain penetration, and as “smart” implants.

“The world is in the midst of a materials science revolution, and graphite is a big part of that revolution,” Huston says.

Graphite One released its pre-feasibility study (PFS) in October 2022, a year later than initially anticipated due to COVID-19 setbacks. The study, conducted on an approximately one-square-kilometer assessment representing 7 percent of the formation, found that the mine had an annual production potential of 75,000 tonnes, an increase from the 50,000 tonnes Graphite One predicted ahead of the study. Based on those results, combined with a continued increase in demand for graphite anodes, Graphite One revised its initial estimates as it heads the feasibility stage.

“As we completed the preliminary feasibility study, we knew from end-user discussions with major electric vehicle manufacturers that graphite anode demand would be much higher than the assumptions we made several years back when beginning our PFS,” Huston explains. “As a result, in our feasibility study, Graphite One is looking at several multiples of that 50,000 metric ton figure, likely between 100,000 and 150,000 metric tons of annual production. Market demand will support it, and we believe our project will be that much more economically robust.”

During its 2022 field program, Graphite One drilled 2,090 meters at the mine site. Additional core and sonic drilling provided geotechnical data for building the proposed mill, dry tailings/waste rock storage areas, and the mine’s access route. Graphite One also conducted ongoing baseline environmental surveys, installed weather stations, and increased its camp capacity from twenty-four to sixty persons.

Graphite One’s pre-COVID-19 timeline had construction at the mine slated to begin in 2025. Though the pandemic caused some delays, Huston says they were minimal and that the project remains relatively on track.

“Amazingly, and all credit to our Graphite One team, we managed to keep development going as much as possible, so we are looking at mine construction commencing in 2026, with first production in 2028,” he says.

There are also plans to have the Washington manufacturing facility operational before construction begins at Graphite Creek. Huston says Graphite One plans to buy graphite concentrate on the open market and run it through its Washington manufacturing plant, and then flow material from Graphite Creek in when the mine comes online.

“We’re looking at ways to flip the script on the linear ‘mine first, refine second’ approach to project development, to get our advance materials facility up and running sooner,” Huston explains. “Demand [for graphite products] is huge, so we really see value in innovating to begin production sooner.”

The Graphite Creek mine’s success hinges in part on the Port of Nome’s ability to handle the increased traffic.

“The Port [of Nome] is a key infrastructure element for our project,” Huston says.

Nome exports rock and gravel using the WestGold Dock, part of a causeway that stretches more than half a mile to deeper waters of Norton Sound. Those current operations must seamlessly integrate with Graphite One’s new demands, Port Director Joy Baker explains.

“Additional vessel traffic to move cargo, fuel, natural resources, and construction materials always impacts the operations, as vessels compete not only for berthing space but dock staging areas for working cargo, staging equipment, gravel/rock materials, and for handling passengers and crew that disembark and embark on cruise ships, scientific vessels, NOAA ships, and USCG vessels,” she says.

The US Army Corps of Engineers added a breakwater in 2006 to partially enclose the causeway docks, yet Baker anticipates that the port will require additional improvements to prepare for Graphite One.

A boat leaves the Port of Nome to dredge for gold offshore.

andykazie| iStock

“At this point, the port has made improvements in uplands laydown space, which is intended to serve not only the staging of graphite, but heavy equipment, armor stone, and gravel and sand materials, as well as project materials,” Baker says. “This area will also include set-aside working areas for users and tenants to re-handle equipment and materials that could be an export or an import for transshipment throughout the region.”

Though Baker currently doesn’t anticipate any operational changes at the port, she says that could change as the mine’s extraction volumes grow.

Huston views the Graphite Creek mine as part of an economic development system that will confer benefits not just on Graphite One but the community of Nome as well.

“[The Port of Nome] is a great example of how Graphite One is part of a large ecosystem of economic development,” he says. “We need a vibrant port, the port needs a large, anchor tenant like Graphite One, and… Alaska needs strong economic drivers to support ports of refuge and an Arctic strategy, given the importance of the region. Graphite One sees itself as a partner in these long-term developments, which confer benefits far beyond our business case.”

Huston says the Graphite Creek mine will also serve as a source of good, long-term, well-paying jobs for locals. He estimates that the project will employ up to 200 workers, and he says the company is committed to implementing a local hire preference and to training its employees.

“Our people can build their skill sets and move up to new opportunities as we operate,” he says. “Our 26-year project life is based on exploration of just 7 percent of our total deposit, [so] Graphite One is going to be around for a long time.”