THE LINK: OCTOBER 2023 35 energy technologies, such as solar panels, due to its resistance to extreme heat. The United States is now dependent on imports of graphite, mainly from China. “Thank you to the Department of Defense for recognizing the importance of Alaska’s vast mineral wealth, one example being Graphite One,” Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said. Laura Taylor-Kate, Assistant Secretary for Industrial Base Policy at the Defence Department, said: “This investment to increase industrial capabilities for graphite exemplifies our commitment to building and industrial base to meet current and future national defense requirements,” in this case materials for advanced batteries. Graphite One CEO Anthony Huston said the company intends to manufacture battery anodes and to do recycling in Washington state, so there will be a complete U.S. supply chain. The mine would operate as a surface mine producing 4 million tonnes of ore with a graphite concentration of 7%, according to the company. (A tonne is 2,200 lbs. compared with a ton, which is 2,000 pounds). The ore would be processed in a facility adjacent to the mine to produce 30,000 tonnes of dried concentrate with a graphite content of 95%, Graphite One said. While the Defense Department has stepped in to help Graphite One because of the strategic importance of graphite, a contrary development is that the U.S. Department of Energy has turned thumbs-down on a proposal from Bering Straits Native Corporation to pursue one of the new-technology microreactors being developed by Westinghouse and other companies. The microreactor was being promoted as a source of regional energy for electrical power generation as well as space heating in Nome. It would have also been a source of energy for the Graphite One minerals project. BSNC had applied for one of the Department of Energy’s competitive new energy technology grants but the agency’s reaction was to discourage the corporation in pursuing a microreactor. Alaska’s Seward Peninsula has a long history in mining dating from the historic gold rush at Nome in the early 19th Century where prospectors mined rich gold placer deposits on the beach. Placer gold is still being mined there. Because of that history, the region has always been politically supportive of mining, an important consideration at a time when many Alaska minerals projects are stalled by environmental lawsuits filed by local groups. — Tim Bradner
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