Graphite One talks HREEs in Graphite Creek material

Mr. Anthony Huston reports INDEPENDENT TESTING CONFIRMS ELEVATED MAGNET AND HEAVY RARE EARTH PRESENCE AT GRAPHITE ONE'S ALASKA GRAPHITE DEPOSIT Results from an independent analysis of Graphite One Inc.'s Graphite Creek garnet material have confirmed the presence of rare earths in the Graphite Creek deposit, with elevated levels of the magnet and heavy rare earths (HREEs). The drill core samples were from the anticipated pit outlined in Graphite One's feasibility study (FS) completed in February, 2025, suggesting that REE (rare earth element) recovery could potentially proceed alongside graphite extraction in the early years of mining operations. Key findings from the testing performed by Activation Laboratory (ActLabs) of Ancaster, Canada, include: Bulk rock geochemical analyses indicate that Graphite Creek hosts an increased proportion of magnet REEs and HREEs relative to LREEs (light rare earths). Garnets, known for housing HREE plus scandium plus yttrium in their mineral structure, appear to be the reason for the relative abundance of HREEs at Graphite Creek. Eighty-five per cent of the REEs in the garnet material are magnet or HREEs. Dysprosium in the garnets ranges from 32 to 63 parts per million; yttrium in garnets ranges from 198 to 427 parts per million; scandium ranges from 84 to 141 parts per million. "While these results are preliminary, they are clearly promising," said Anthony Huston, chief executive officer of Graphite One. "Few rare earth deposits have such a strong presence of magnet and heavy rare earths. With Graphite Creek already confirmed by the USGS [U.S. Geological Survey] as the nation's largest natural graphite deposit and among the largest in the world, the presence of 14 magnet or heavy rare earths at Graphite Creek further confirms that ours is a generational deposit for the tech applications transforming our world." Rare earth elements are vital to 21st-century technology, with neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium and samarium forming essential building blocks of powerful permanent magnets used in wind turbines, electric vehicles and advanced defence systems such as precision-guided munitions and radar. REEs further enable high-performance fibre optics, lasers, catalysts and phosphors in displays and lighting. Their distinct magnetic, optical and catalytic properties make them indispensable across military applications and commercial electronics, renewable energy and telecommunications -- underscoring their strategic importance to U.S. industry and national security. China, the world's largest producer of the full range of REEs, imposed export limits on the magnet REEs in February, 2024, and tightened graphite exports in December, 2024, highlighting the importance of the development of Graphite One's Graphite Creek mine. "The presence of two Defense Production Act Title III materials -- graphite and REEs -- in a single deposit further underscores Graphite Creek's position as a truly generational deposit," added Mr. Huston. "Given the robust economics of our complete graphite materials supply chain, the presence of rare earths at Graphite Creek suggests that recovery as a byproduct to our graphite production will maximize the value of what is already the U.S.'s largest natural graphite deposit." Graphite Creek REE findings and next steps "The garnets -- which are often as large as marbles -- seem to be dominant hosts for the HREEs, which will guide our ongoing test program as we enter 2026," commented Kirsten Fristad, Graphite One's chief geologist. "These results indicate that if you were to separate one of our ore rocks into two piles, its garnet component and then everything else, the garnets have two to six times higher REE concentration." Graphite One plans to work with a U.S. national lab to develop a testing plan to determine the best method for extracting the REEs from the Graphite Creek garnets. Summary of independent test results Garnet grains were mechanically separated from Graphite Creek crushed drill core samples at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). The separated garnet fraction was analyzed for REE concentration at ActLabs. Graphite One's domestic supply chain strategy With the United States currently 100 per cent import dependent for natural graphite, Graphite One is developing a complete U.S.-based, advanced graphite supply chain solution anchored by the Graphite Creek deposit, recognized by the U.S. Geological Survey as the largest graphite deposit in the United States and among the largest in the world. The Graphite One project supply chain strategy involves transporting material to the lower 48 through the port of Nome to an anticipated advanced graphite material and battery anode material manufacturing plant to be located in Warren, Ohio, subject to project financing. The plan also includes a potential recycling facility to reclaim graphite and the other battery materials, to be co-located at the Ohio site, the third link in Graphite One's circular economy strategy. Qualified person Rob Retherford, PGeo, with Alaska Earth Sciences Inc., provided oversight to the 2022-to-2024 drilling, sampling and quality assurance/quality control programs. Mr. Retherford is an independent qualified person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release. About Graphite One Inc. Graphite One continues to develop its Graphite One project with the goal of becoming an American producer of high-grade anode materials that is integrated with a domestic graphite resource. The project is proposed as a vertically integrated enterprise to mine and process natural graphite and to manufacture artificial and natural graphite anode active materials primarily for the lithium-ion electric vehicle battery and energy storage markets. We seek Safe Harbor.