Titan Mining Commences Graphite Processing at Empire State Mines in New York

On December 11, 2025, Titan Mining announced it has commenced feeding ore at its fully permitted, 1,200-tonnes-per-year Kilbourne graphite demonstration facility at the Empire State Mines (ESM) complex in New York. The company highlights this as a pivotal step toward restoring a domestic, end-to-end natural flake graphite supply chain in the U.S. for the first time in over 70 years. The ultimate goal is to scale up to a 40,000-tonne-per-annum commercial facility. The release reiterates recent project milestones, including a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) and expanded support from the U.S. Export-Import (EXIM) Bank, which includes an additional $5.5 million in funding and a non-binding Letter of Interest for up to $120 million in project financing for the commercial-scale plant.

The commencement of ore processing at the demonstration plant is a positive and necessary step, confirming the company is executing on its previously stated timeline of commissioning in Q4 2025. However, this is a routine operational update rather than a material, thesis-changing event. The market has been primed for this news through a series of increasingly significant press releases over the past year.

• Building the Narrative: Throughout 2025, Titan methodically built its graphite story, starting with metallurgical results (Jan 16), announcing facility construction (May 20), securing an initial EXIM credit agreement for its zinc operations (July 22), and showcasing high-level government support (Sep 16).
• Key Catalysts: The truly material events that drove the stock's re-rating were the October 7 announcement of a non-binding US$120 million Letter of Interest from the EXIM Bank for the full-scale project, and the December 1 release of a robust PEA for the Kilbourne project (After-Tax NPV7 of US$513M, IRR 37%). These events substantially de-risked the project from a potential financing and economic perspective.
• Execution Milestone: The current news is an execution milestone that validates the company's operational capability. It slightly reduces execution risk, but the heavy lifting remains. The key value driver is not the 1,200 tpa demo plant, but the potential 40,000 tpa commercial facility, which is still subject to significant financing and development hurdles.

This news confirms progress and keeps the momentum going, but it was an expected development. The market reaction is likely to be muted as the major catalysts have already occurred. The primary value of this step is to produce qualification samples for potential offtake partners, which is the next critical hurdle.

Titan Mining Corporation is a U.S.-focused critical minerals company. It owns and operates the Empire State Mine (ESM) in New York, a producing underground zinc mine that provides a base of cash flow. The company's flagship growth asset is the Kilbourne Graphite Project, located adjacent to ESM. Titan's strategy is to leverage its existing infrastructure, permits, and workforce at ESM to develop Kilbourne and become the first fully integrated, domestic producer of natural flake graphite in the United States in over 70 years. This strategy is strongly aligned with U.S. government initiatives to re-shore critical mineral supply chains. The company has also identified potentially valuable concentrations of Germanium in its zinc processing circuit.