Graphite One permitting: US Army Corps to hold meeting in Nome

The Alaska District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is holding a public meeting on Thursday, Oct. 15 in Nome to explain the Environmental Impact Statement process associated with the proposed Graphite One LLC graphite mine on the northern slopes of the Kigluaik Mountain range and to take public comment.
The Corps is the regulatory federal agency overseeing the permitting process and is soliciting public comment until November 1, 2026 as part of preparing an Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS for short. After the EIS is completed, the Corps will make a permit decision on the proposed project, which has been met with mixed public sentiment in Nome and outspoken resistance from Teller and Brevig Mission, the communities closest to the proposed mine site.
Graphite One Alaska LLC, subsidiary of a Canadian company, proposes to build a graphite mine at Graphite Creek on State of Alaska mineral leases with the intent to process the graphite into an ore concentrate to be shipped out of Nome to a processing facility in Ohio. To access the remote graphite site, the company proposes to build a 17.3-mile-long access road through mostly untouched wilderness and a windy mountain pass called Mosquito Pass.
The Corps will consider several alternatives to the proposed mine in the EIS, ranging from Graphite One’s proposal of the mine and the associated infrastructure to a No Action alternative.
In a public notice document, the Corps explained the evaluation factors. “The decision whether to issue a permit will be based on an evaluation of the probable impacts, including cumulative impacts of the proposed activity in the public interest,” reads the document. “The decision will reflect the national concern for both protection and utilization of important resources.”
It has been argued that natural graphite is on the Department of Energy’s critical minerals list and that at present, the USA is 100 percent dependent on imported natural graphite. The graphite mine, the argument goes, would provide essential supply-chain infrastructure for the U.S. renewable energy sector as well as industrial and “Defense Industrial Base” applications. To underscore the national defense interest in graphite, the Department of Defense awarded Graphite One LLC a $37.5 million grant toward the company’s feasibility study. 
According to the Corps’ public notice document, the public is encouraged to comment on the EIS, specifically on identifying alternatives to the proposed project, identifying significant issues with the project, identifying any information regarding impacts to the waters of the US, biological resources, socioeconomic impacts, or impacts affecting the human environment. Also, the public is asked to provide information on current or planned activities in the vicinity of the area – basically from Graphite Creek almost to Imuruk Basin, where the mine, mill site and tailings facility will sprawl.
The project is on an accelerated timeline as part of the so-called FAST-41 program. The Corps plans to conclude the EIS by September 24, 2027, and issue a decision on the permit by September 30, 2027.
The Corps asks comments to be as specific and detailed as possible. The comments can be submitted in writing by mail, email, on the project’s website graphitecreekEIS.com or verbally during one of the two public meetings. The meeting in Nome is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 15 at 5:30 – 8 p.m. at Old St. Joe’s. A second, virtual meeting, will be held on October 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. An access link is posted on the project website graphitecreekEIS.com