Graphite One Outlines Path to Production for Ohio Manufacturing Plant Following Air Permit

The November 9, 2026 release is a sequencing/roadmap statement for the Phase 1 synthetic graphite anode active material (AAM) plant in Conneaut, Ohio. It follows — and largely restates — the November 2, 2026 announcement that the Ohio EPA issued the final air permit (Permit No. P0140891, effective Oct 27, 2026, valid to Oct 27, 2036).

Substantive content:

• Phase 1 is a blending and coating plant that would process purchased synthetic graphite and other materials into AAM — it is explicitly not dependent on ore from Graphite Creek.
• Capacity 10,000 tpy; estimated initial capital cost US$80 million, "to be updated after final engineering."
• Timeline: Final Investment Decision (FID) by April 2027; first sales Q4 2028.
• Remaining work items: complete final engineering, obtain remaining state and local permits, secure project financing.
• Financing: the December 2025 EXIM amended, non-binding Letter of Interest for US$1.4B (phased in 25,000-tonne increments to 100,000 tpy, 15-year tenor under "Make More in America"), plus the US$670M LoI for Graphite Creek, totalling US$2.07B. Conditions explicitly restated: application, due diligence, credit approval.
• Commercial: prospective buyers are U.S. battery and energy-storage customers; samples provided for qualification; the release states the company "has previously announced... non-binding supply agreements with Lucid Motors."
• Graphite Creek: USGS-cited as the largest known flake graphite resource in the USA; Feasibility Study completed April 2025 (note: the October 2026 investor presentation dates the FS effective March 25, 2025, and the December 2025 releases describe a February 2025 FS — a minor internal inconsistency in company disclosure).

What is new versus already known: essentially nothing on economics, financing status, customers, or permitting. The only incremental element is a clearer articulation that Ohio Phase 1 is a standalone purchased-feedstock blending/coating business intended to generate revenue ahead of the mine.

What it does not say: no binding offtake, no financing commitment, no EPC contract, no updated capex after final engineering, no feedstock supplier identified, no timeline for the remaining state and local permits, and no statement on the company's current cash position.

Routine and neutral. The market already received the operative fact — the Ohio air permit — on November 2, 2026, and that release carried the same FID (April 2027) and first-sales (Q4 2028) dates and the same US$80M capex. The EXIM US$1.4B LoI dates to December 18, 2025 and is unchanged and still non-binding. Today's release therefore recycles prior disclosure and adds narrative sequencing rather than new economic content.

What matters most is what the recap exposes when read against the historical record: a consistent pattern of schedule slippage and financing deferral.

• Ohio first production: July 16, 2026 releases guided synthetic AAM production commencing Q4 2027. Today's release and the presentation now target first sales Q4 2028 — a ~12-month push.
• Ohio Phase 2 (25,000 tpy): May 19, 2026 guided Q3 2028; June 22, 2026 guided Q4 2028; the October 2026 presentation now shows commissioning at end-2030 — roughly a two-year slip, and that is the module that carries the bulk of the modelled economics (US$900M capex, US$114M EBITDA per the presentation).
• Graphite Creek permitting: the April 27, 2026 release cited a FAST-41 projected completion of September 29, 2026. On July 9, 2026 the company confirmed a full EIS is required and stated "no anticipated delay to 2029 startup." The November 2, 2026 release now shows a USACE permit decision target of September 30, 2027. The 2029/2030 mine dates have held in the narrative, but the federal permit milestone has moved a full year.
• Financing: the formal EXIM application was slated for 2026 in the December 2025 release; the presentation now puts submission in Q1 2027. The company still has no binding loan, no EPC contract and no announced 30% equity/debt co-funding, which the December 2025 release said would come from "top North American investment banks."

At C$0.69 and ~C$145M market cap, the gap between ambition and funding is the story: Phase 1 capex of US$80M equals roughly 55% of market cap, Phase 2 of US$900M is over six times market cap, and the full US$3.455B phased Ohio build is roughly 24 times current market cap. A US$1.4B non-binding LoI does not close that gap, and no dilution-neutral path has been disclosed.

Graphite One is a pre-revenue Vancouver-based critical minerals developer pursuing a vertically integrated U.S. graphite business: mine and concentrate at Graphite Creek (Seward Peninsula, Alaska, ~60 km north of Nome), ship via the Port of Nome, and manufacture synthetic and natural graphite anode active material in Ohio, with a possible co-located recycling facility.

Flagship asset — Graphite Creek (NI 43-101 Feasibility Study, effective March 25, 2025):

• Proven & Probable reserves: 71.2 Mt at 5.2% graphitic carbon, containing 3.7 Mt graphite.
• Mine: 20-year FS life (22-year stated production term), average 175,000 tpy concentrate, initial mine capex US$949M.
• Full build (mine plus natural graphite AAM): 169,000 tpy natural AAM, total capital US$4,868M, post-tax NPV US$5.03B at 8%, IRR 27% (company study, pre-financing, pre-dilution).
• Secondary treatment plant output: ~256,500 tpy (169,000 tpy AAM, ~25,000 tpy purified graphite, ~62,000 tpy unpurified graphite/carbon products).
• Deposit remains open to the west, east and down dip. Located on 100% state-owned land.

Ohio synthetic AAM (the subject of today's release):

• Phase 1: 10,000 tpy blending and coating, US$80M capex, presentation-modelled EBITDA US$9M and pre-tax profit US$7M — an approximately 11% EBITDA yield on capex before feedstock, qualification and working-capital risk.
• Phase 2: 25,000 tpy module, US$900M capex, modelled EBITDA US$114M (presentation also shows pre-tax profit of US$302M, which is arithmetically inconsistent with EBITDA of US$114M — treat the modelled returns with scepticism).
• Phase 3: incremental modules to 100,000 tpy; total phased capex US$3,455M; modelled EBITDA US$495M at 100,000 tpy.