Linking Alaska’s Resources to Alaska’s People 26 2024 Meet Alaska Conference & Trade Show New graphite mine critical to strategic mineral Coming off a highly successful 2023 summer field season, Graphite One is on track to complete a required feasibility study by the end of 2024 for the company’s planned graphite mine on the Seward Peninsula northwest of Nome. Assuming favorable results of that, the company will be poised to begin a two-year permit process in 2025, mine construction in 2027 and the first shipments of graphite concentrate to a Lower 48 processing plant in 2029 and 2030, Mike Schaffner, Graphite One’s senior vice president for operations, told the Resource Development Council in a Feb. 15 briefing. The 2023 drilling program was the company’s largest drill program since exploration began at the graphite deposit about 40 miles northwest of Nome. The goal was to complete 30,000 feet of drilling last summer bringing the total footage drilled over 10 years to 71,366 feet in 151 holes, Schaffner said. Two diamond drill rigs were moved to the site early in the summer with a third rig added in late July. By drilling into the first week of October, the company was able to complete 57 holes. The assay results are now being incorporated into an updated geologic model that will be used to complete a new mine design and development schedule for the feasibility study, Schaffner told the RDC. A significant accomplishment was the completion of winter trails to the site, which allowed heavy equipment to be moved overland, which reduced the amount of helicopter support needed. Graphite One looks ahead after successful season
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