Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Graphite One (TSXV: GPH) has been awarded a Department of Defense Technology Investment Agreement grant of $37.5 million under the Defense Production Act, funded through the US Inflation Reduction Act.
The funding will help the company to accelerate the feasibility study covering its Graphite Creek project 35 miles north of Nome, Alaska.
Graphite Creek was recently confirmed by the US Geological Survey to be the country’s largest known graphite resource, and among the largest in the world.
The company plans to manufacture natural and artificial graphite anode materials and other value‐added graphite products from the concentrate and other materials in a facility expected to be located in Washington State.
The grant to Graphite One follows the designation of graphite as one of the battery materials deemed essential to the national defense. Currently, the US is 100% import-dependent for graphite, with China being the world’s leading producer.
Shares of Graphite One jumped 22% by 11 am ET following the announcement. The company has a market capitalization of C$203 million ($154 million).
