As part of The Future of Power & The Lithium-Ion Battery Revolution Stock Picking Challenge, Stockpools sat down with Anthony Huston, President and CEO of Graphite One Resources (GPH: TSX-V; GPHOF: OTCQX) to get a better understanding of the company and its Graphite Creek Project and find out what’s really under the hood.
Graphite One Resources Inc. is led by a team of professionals with some outstanding history. Their combined knowledge and experience demonstrates why Graphite One is a very compelling story to watch:
1) Please describe Graphite One Resources for readers who are not familiar with the story?
Graphite One Resources is advancing the Graphite Creek Deposit (USA’s largest known large flake graphite deposit, situated on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska). The goal is to advance the Graphite Creek Deposit to be a premier supplier of technology-grade graphite to the growing lithium-ion battery, energy storage, and mobile technology manufacturers. We have already completed a large amount of drilling and testing and we are currently awaiting the announcement of our PEA – A detailed assessment of both the geology and the economics of our project.
2) Explain the logistical advantages of being in Alaska for Graphite One?
Graphite Creek’s location on the Seward Peninsula of Alaska provides major logistical advantages with direct ocean access to the high-tech American hub and the Asian markets. With companies like Tesla stating publicly that they are looking for North American supply for their lithium-ion batteries and with those batteries requiring far more Graphite than Lithium I believe our location will provide a great opportunity to meet the growing North American demand.
3) What makes the natural graphite from the Graphite Creek deposit so unique?
Great question. What we have discovered at Graphite Creek is that our natural graphite
is extremely unique. We started working with TRU Group on our Spherical (STAX) Graphite. Our tests have shown little change in reversible discharge capacity & performance. The early results from STAX are very encouraging and we believe the natural graphite from Graphite Creek will likely process far more efficiently and economically into the high-grade, high-tech Graphite products, the market demands.
4) There are differing opinions on nearly every key metric (grade, purity, flake size, shape, impurities, etc.). How can investors educate themselves on what to look for in projects?
For investors they need to look carefully at the metrics. All graphite deposits have different characteristics but it is the end product that matters. For example, purity is an important component but it is just one part of the equation and you need to check all the boxes to produce a premium product. STAX has been a major development for us and it has the potential for exceptional processing, higher yields and higher performance.
5) What milestones can investors look for in the next six to eighteen months that indicate to investors that you are executing on the business plan and achieving your objectives?
As I mentioned earlier we will be releasing our PEA in Q4 which a lot of investors
have been waiting for. This will be a major milestone for us as it will help quantify all the work we have put in drilling and testing the graphite, and it will assess both the geology and the economics of our project. As for what’s next following the PEA, we will continue to work with TRU Group and continue testing the product to ensure we will become a premium supplier to the technology industry. Moving forward, investors can also expect to see our
Feasibility Study to further advance the project.
6) What are the prime misconceptions about Graphite One?
I think a lot of people perceive Graphite One as just an exploration company, which it is, but we differentiate ourselves by being technology-focused. We are in the midst of a Technology revolution and what matters about Graphite is it’s importance to the clean-tech, high-tech and national security applications that are transforming our world. Graphite is a unique mineral that has very specific applications within a lithium-ion battery. At Graphite One we are focused on meeting growing North American demand and that is our focus.
