Alaska Native corps invest in Graphite One

Further solidifying Graphite Creek as a battery materials project critical to Alaska and the nation, two additional Alaska Native corporations have invested in Graphite One Inc. and its plans to establish a mine-to-batteries graphite supply chain in the United States.

“We are pleased and honored to be the first critical mineral project to have direct investment from three Alaska Native regional corporations,” said Graphite One President and CEO Anthony Huston.

The first of these investments came from Bering Straits Native Corp. (BSNC), the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) corporation for the western Alaska region, where the Graphite Creek mine project is located.

The latest Alaska Native investments come from Doyon Ltd., the ANCSA regional corporation for Interior Alaska, and Aleut Ltd., the regional corporation for the Aleutian and Pribilof Islands region extending off Southwest Alaska.

Combined, these ANCSA regional corporations are investing $5 million (C$7 million) to acquire 8.51 million Graphite One shares at C82 cents each. Each share comes with a warrant, which can be converted into an additional share at an exercise price of $1.03 per share for three years.

Doyon President and CEO Aaron Schutt says the corporation’s backing of Graphite One is a long-term investment in Alaska.

“With decades of experience in responsible resource development, Doyon looks forward to working with Graphite One to bring the Graphite Creek Critical Minerals Project into production,” he said.

For Aleut, the energy transition supply chains that Graphite Creek will support were an added draw.

“This investment reflects Aleut’s belief in renewable energy. Graphite is a critical resource in building that future and we believe Graphite One shares in our commitment for responsible development,” said Aleut President and CEO Skoey Vergen. “Not only does this create value for our shareholders, it opens up the potential for future opportunities in Alaska that could benefit our region.”

The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act established 12 ANCSA regional corporations, three of which have invested in Graphite One.

Advancing a U.S. graphite supply chain

Graphite One plans to use proceeds from the ANCSA corporation-backed financing for environmental studies and other work needed to secure permits to develop and operate a mine at Graphite Creek, which hosts the largest known graphite deposit in North America.

Once in production, the Graphite Creek mine is expected to produce 175,000 metric tons of graphite annually for 20 years.

The high-grade graphite concentrate produced at the western Alaska mine will be shipped to Ohio, where it will be upgraded to enough anode material for the batteries in roughly 2 million electric vehicles per year, along with other graphite products for industrial, commercial, and military applications.

Given its importance to American automotive and technology supply chains, Graphite Creek was selected for streamlined permitting under FAST-41, a federal program established in 2015 to accelerate the timeline and increase the transparency of the approval process for large infrastructure projects in the U.S.

Based on the timeline established by the Federal Permitting Improvements Steering Council (FPISC), which oversees FAST-41, a decision on the federal permits needed to begin mine development at Graphite Creek is expected by next September.

Graphite One, which received a letter of interest from the Export‑Import Bank of the United States (EXIM)earlier this year to apply for a $570 million loan to help build the Graphite Creek mine, anticipates that the western Alaska operation will begin delivering graphite into U.S. supply chains by 2031.

Investments by three ANCSA regional corporations demonstrate growing Alaskan support for this operation, which is critical to the state and nation.

Expressing his appreciation to Aleut and Doyon for their support, Huston says Graphite One is endeavoring “to make Graphite Creek a model of responsible development that brings long-term benefits to your communities and the State of Alaska.”