The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
North of 60 Mining News - November 1, 2024
The Critical Mining for these Critical Times then of the 2024 AMA convention reflects the skyrocketing demand for minerals and metals critical to America's clean energy goals and military readiness.
The U.S. Department of Defense has invested in accelerating the production of graphite in Alaska and is keeping close tabs on high-grade antimony projects in the state.
Core from drilling through a high-grade lens at Graphite Creek, the largest graphite deposit in the U.S.
A Felix Gold geologist beside an antimony-rich rock dug from the NW Array area of the Treasure Creek project.
Nova Minerals CEO Christopher Gerteisen with stibnite samples collected from the Estelle gold-antimony project.
Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse
Rising geopolitical tensions around the globe, China's increasing use of critical minerals as a trade war weapon, and the International Energy Agency's forecast that an additional $800 billion needs to be invested into the mining of energy transition metals by 2040 in order to meet global climate ambitions, have political and military leaders looking North to Alaska for secure and reliable supplies of minerals critical to the United States.
"We must end America's dangerous dependence on China for critical minerals, which are increasingly necessary for alternative energy sources, advanced batteries, and defense technologies," said Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan. "Alaska can and will lead the way in unleashing America's resource potential."
What the global and national critical minerals landscape means for the future of America's 49th State will be a hot topic of discussion for mining leaders gathering during the first week of November for the Alaska Minerals Association's 2024 annual convention.
Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse
"In order to have secure supply chains for critical metals to meet our goals for a green energy and transportation transformation, we will need to mine more ore in the next 25 years than we have in our entire human history," said Contango ORE CEO Rick Van Nieuwenhuyse, who will be discussing critical metals and their role in the green energy, transportation and AI-driven future at the AMA convention on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
The theme of this year's AMA conference – "Critical mining for these critical times" – reflects the skyrocketing demand for minerals and metals needed for clean energy, high-tech manufacturing, and national security.
"We are reaching a critical time to develop locally in our nation and avoid becoming dependent on importing the resources to accommodate the changes we are seeing across the automobile industry and technology we are becoming more and more dependent on," Alaska Miners Association Executive Director Deantha Skibinski told Mining News.
Beyond the geopolitical implications of being dependent on countries like China for critical minerals, Skibinski says more needs to be done to help the American public "realize that we mine responsibly in the United States and that we need to look inwards during these critical times."
"Frankly – Alaska does it best," she said. "We should all be looking at our state to be that critical producer for our critical needs."
Alaska is already home to the largest critical minerals-producing mine in the United States – Red Dog, which delivers globally significant quantities of zinc and germanium to markets – and hosts potentially economic quantities of 49 out of the 50 elements on the U.S. Geological Survey critical mineral list.
America's Last Frontier State is also home to Greens Creek, the single largest producing silver mine in North America, and Pebble, the largest undeveloped deposit of copper in the world.
While silver and copper are not on the official USGS list of critical minerals, these metals are undeniably essential to a global economy transitioning to zero-carbon electricity.
Alaska's potential to be a reliable domestic supplier of minerals critical to America's clean energy ambitions and military readiness has attracted the attention of the U.S. Department of Defense, which is investing millions into accelerating the development of a mine at the world-class Graphite Creek project in the far western reaches of Alaska and is considering backing the development of very high-grade antimony deposits in Interior and Southcentral.
"It is exciting to think Alaska is in the eyes of national political leaders and global mining representatives," Skibinski said. "It is our job to make them understand that critical minerals isn't just a buzzword and that 'critical minerals' aren't just what the USGS has defined in this three-year timeframe. We need to be looking at Alaska for graphite and antimony, but also gold, copper, silver, and more."
The headway being made toward the development of a mine at the Graphite Creek project about 40 miles north of the Alaska Gold Rush town of Nome is sure to be a top critical minerals topic at the AMA convention.
Home to the largest known graphite deposit on American soil and amongst the largest in the world, Graphite Creek has the potential to be the first link in a completely domestic supply chain for the single largest ingredient in the lithium-ion batteries that power smartphones, electric vehicles, and countless other electronic devices.
With the battery pack of the average-sized passenger EV requiring around 115 pounds of graphite and full-sized electric pickups and SUVs needing around 500 lb, the global demand for this battery material is forecast to exceed 5 million metric tons per year by 2030. This is more than three times the 1.6 million metric tons mined globally last year.
To help meet this rocketing demand, Graphite One Inc. is rapidly advancing the environmental, social, and geological studies needed to permit and build a mine at Graphite Creek.
A 2022 prefeasibility study for Graphite Creek envisioned a vertically integrated graphite supply chain that includes a mine at the western Alaska project that will deliver graphite concentrates to a separate processing plant capable of producing around 50,000 metric tons of battery-grade anode material per year.
This would be an important source of graphite for the U.S., which currently does not have any domestic graphite mines. This leaves American battery makers heavily reliant on China, which produces approximately 77% of all mined graphite and more than 90% of the world's graphite anode material.
"Concentration of critical minerals mining and refining capacity in China leaves our supply chains vulnerable and our national security and clean energy goals at risk," the White House penned in a May briefing on tariffs for critical minerals and other products imported from China.
Adding to the typical economic and geopolitical implications this reliance poses, China now requires government authorization for exports of graphite out of the country. This provides the communist country with a spigot that can be used to shut off the primary global supply of graphite needed for the energy transition.
Core from drilling through a high-grade lens at Graphite Creek, the largest graphite deposit in the U.S.
America's heavy reliance on China for a material critical to the nation's 21st-century economy and military readiness does not sit well with DOD, which is investing $37.5 million to help fund Graphite One's work to collect the final data needed to complete a feasibility study for an all-American graphite supply chain that includes a mine at the Alaska project and an advanced graphite processing and recycling plant in Ohio.
To better match Graphite Creek's world-class potential with the enormous demand for a reliable domestic supply of graphite, the feasibility study is expected to provide details of a mine and processing plant capable of producing four times more lithium-ion battery anode material than considered in the prefeasibility study.
Lucid Motors, a Silicon Valley-based EV manufacturer with an automotive and battery plant in Arizona, has already cut a deal to buy anode material produced at Graphite One's future plant in Ohio.
"We are committed to accelerating the transition to sustainable vehicles and the development of a robust domestic supply chain ensures the United States, and Lucid, will maintain technology leadership in this global race," Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said upon the July unveiling of a preliminary supply agreement between the companies. "Through work with partners like Graphite One, we will have access to American-sourced critical raw materials, helping power our award-winning vehicles made with pride in Arizona."
Graphite One's plans to establish a domestic mine-to-EVs supply chain got a major boost with an October invitation from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) for Graphite One to apply for a $325 million loan to build its planned advanced anode material (AAM) processing plant in Ohio, which will be much faster to permit and build than a mine at Graphite Creek.
Graphite One President and CEO Anthony Huston says the EXIM loan, coupled with the Defense Production Act Title III grants from DOD, "underscores the urgent need to bring U.S. graphite supply into production, and end the nation's 100% foreign dependency."
Graphite One is on pace to complete the feasibility study early in 2025 and expects to begin producing around 25,000 metric tons of synthetic graphite anode material per year at the Ohio processing plant beginning in 2029. The facility will be expanded to 100,000 metric tons per year once the Graphite Creek mine is up and running.
Further details on Alaska's potential to be a significant source of domestic will be provided during a USGS update on graphite resources on the Seward Peninsula during the AMA convention on Tuesday, Nov. 5, and Graphite One's presentation on technical advances at Graphite Creek on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
Alaska's potential to be a near-term source of antimony critical to American military readiness and economy will likely be another trending topic for discussion at the critical mining-themed AMA convention.
Falling in the grey area between metals like zinc and nonmetals like carbon, antimony is a metalloid that possesses some interesting properties that are essential to a wide range of household, industrial, high-tech, and military goods.
According to the USGS, American manufacturers use more than 50 million pounds of antimony each year for fireproofing compounds, batteries, ammunition, electronics, specialty glass, and other products.
Much like graphite, however, there are currently no antimony mines in the U.S., leaving American manufacturers and military reliant on oft-adversarial countries for its supply.
In its 2024 Mineral Commodity Summaries, the USGS reported that China, Russia, and Tajikistan account for roughly 80% of the world's supply of antimony.
A heavy dependence on Russia and China for a metalloid that is both critical to the American economy and strategic to its military is not something that many U.S. lawmakers and military officials are uncomfortable with.
In a 2022 report, the U.S. House Armed Services Committee said it "is concerned about recent geopolitical dynamics with Russia and China and how that could accelerate supply chain disruptions, particularly with antimony."
These worries over potential antimony supply disruptions have been validated by China's new state-controlled restrictions on antimony exports that went into effect in September.
China's Ministry of Commerce said the government controls on exports of antimony needed for civilian and military purposes are required "to safeguard national security and interests, and fulfill international obligations such as non-proliferation."
To help safeguard America's security and interests, the U.S. has implemented an all-of-government funding strategy similar to the one unfolding for Graphite One's graphite supply chain.
Much like at Graphite Creek, DOD awarded Perpetua Resources Inc. $59.4 million in Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III funding to complete environmental and engineering studies necessary to finalize permitting of its Stibnite Mine in Idaho, followed by a $1.8 billion loan offer from EXIM to fund the construction of this operation that will produce significant quantities of antimony as a byproduct of the gold recovered there.
"We are seeing a whole-of-government approach to bring antimony production home," said Perpetua Resources President and CEO Jon Cherry.
The U.S. Department of Defense has invested in accelerating the production of graphite in Alaska and is keeping close tabs on high-grade antimony projects in the state.
With the Stibnite Mine expected to only cover about one-third of current U.S. antimony demand, Pentagon officials are also keeping a close eye on high-grade antimony deposits being advanced in Alaska, a state that has provided the U.S. with strategic supply of the critical metalloid during times of global geopolitical unrest since World War I.
"It has long been known that stibnite, the sulphide of antimony and the principal source of that metal, is widely distributed in Alaska," USGS Geologist Alfred Brooks penned in a 1917 report, "Antimony deposits of Alaska."
A handful of the 67 Alaska stibnite occurrences identified in Brooks' report were mined to provide the U.S. with antimony during World War I, including the Scrafford Mine about 12 miles north of Fairbanks.
Records show that Scrafford Mine produced 2.4 million lb of antimony from 2,800 metric tons of ore averaging 38.6% stibnite during intermittent operations from 1915 to 1977. The grades were so high that during World War I the mined ore was sorted by hand, put into bags, and shipped to market.
The Goodwin Mine, about 1,500 meters east of Scrafford, also supplied the U.S. with antimony during the first World War, but the quantities and grades of the stibnite produced from this underground mine are unknown.
Today, these historic antimony mines are found on the Treasure Creek project being explored by Felix Gold Ltd., which has its sights set on establishing a 5,000-metric-ton-per-year antimony mine on the property by the end of 2025.
Felix optioned Treasure Creek in 2021 primarily for its gold potential but was acutely aware of the project's high-grade antimony provenance. The company's drill programs in 2022 and 2023 outlined 25 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.58 grams per metric ton (467,000 oz) gold at the NW Array target on the Treasure Creek property.
The drilling that outlined this resource also cut high-grade antimony reminiscent of the ore extracted from the Scrafford Mine about 1.2 miles to the east.
Highlights from the near-surface antimony drilled at NW Array include:
• Three meters averaging 14.2% antimony.
• 1.5 meters averaging 28% antimony.
• 1.5 meters averaging 26% antimony.
• 6.1 meters averaging 13% antimony.
In October, Felix Gold Executive Director Joe Webb. said the company is focused on "advancing the near-term production potential of antimony at Treasure Creek, Alaska, which boast two historic antimony mines that have historically supplied high-grade antimony multiple times to the U.S. market."
Due to the very high grades of antimony found at surface, a mine capable of producing 5,000 metric tons of antimony per year would be small – about the same amount of material as many of the placer gold mining operations common in the Fairbanks areas.
This small size means the permitting process is much simpler, and the financial burden is much less than a large-scale operation, which translates to a potential near-term supply of antimony critical to the U.S.
A Felix Gold geologist beside an antimony-rich rock dug from the NW Array area of the Treasure Creek project.
To gain a better understanding of the extent and grade of outcropping antimony mineralization, Felix completed trenching at Scrafford and NW Array, as well as detailed mapping and sampling along a five-mile (eight kilometers) antimony prospective corridor at Treasure Creek.
Trench samples from both targets were sent to a lab for metallurgical studies to inform exploration and development strategies.
"These studies are critical, as they directly inform the design of the processing facility, ensuring it is optimized for our unique needs," said Webb. "We're fortunate to build on historical resources and proven flow sheets from the Scrafford Antimony Mine, but with Felix's high-grade antimony discovery at NW Array, additional metallurgical work is required to confirm the suitability of these historical flow sheets for this newly identified mineralized zone."
Felix also initiated hydrology studies to support the near-term permitting and development of a high-grade antimony mine at Treasure Creek.
"These studies mark an important milestone, as they underpin our aggressive goal to start antimony production at Treasure Creek by the end of 2025," Webb added.
Treasure Creek is not the only potential near-term supply of antimony produced from high-grade stibnite deposits in Alaska. Pentagon officials are quietly monitoring Nova Minerals Ltd.'s advancement of high-grade antimony targets identified at the Estelle project about 100 miles northwest of Anchorage.
Much like Felix, Nova Minerals was drawn to Alaska for its gold but cannot ignore the high-grade antimony and other critical minerals it has discovered alongside the more than 5 million oz of aurum it has outlined so far across its 198-square-mile (514 square kilometers) property in Alaska's emerging West Susitna Minerals District.
"Estelle is a major mineralized trend, hosting gold, antimony, silver, copper, and other critical elements and we are working to begin production as early as possible and operate for decades supplying the minerals the world needs," said Nova Minerals CEO Christopher Gerteisen.
Drilling carried out by Nova since 2018 has outlined 244 million metric tons of measured and indicated resources at Estelle averaging 0.3 g/t (2.72 million oz) gold, plus 231 million metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.3 g/t (2.45 million oz) gold.
This resource is divided into two project areas at Estelle: the large bulk-tonnage Korbel area at the north and the higher-grade RPM area about 16 miles (25 kilometers) to the south.
While Nova's primary focus continues to be on mining gold at Estelle – beginning with a smaller start mine at RPM that can be scaled up to a larger bulk tonnage operation – the company has also identified high-grade antimony that has drawn DOD interest.
"While Nova's primary focus continues to be on the gold, the discovery of high-grade stibnite, a primary ore source for antimony, associated with the gold system emerging at Estelle, represents a significant development for the company as antimony is listed as a critical and strategic mineral to U.S. economic and national security interests by the U.S. Department of Interior," said Gerteisen.
Nova Minerals CEO Christopher Gerteisen with stibnite samples collected from the Estelle gold-antimony project.
A property-wide sampling and mapping program carried out in 2023 discovered high-grade antimony mineralization at seven prospects at Estelle. The most promising of these is Stibium, which hosts a two-meter-thick high-grade antimony-gold-silver vein the company bulk sampled this year.
Gerteisen told Mining News that he has had early discussions with high-level DOD officials about the potential of developing a pilot-scale mining operation at Stibium, as well as potentially building a plant that could process high-grade antimony mined in Alaska.
Given China's control over antimony processing, developing a domestic processing plant capable of upgrading stibnite into antimony products for military, high-tech, and clean energy applications is as important to DOD as the high-grade stibnite Estelle and Treasure Creek have to offer. They see Alaska as an ideal place to locate such a facility.
"The company is working closely with various U.S. government agencies, including the Department of Defense, to potentially receive grant funding for fast tracking the Estelle antimony production," said Gertiesen. "We will update the market as we progress."
In the meantime, the Nova Minerals CEO will be updating AMA convention attendees on the progress at Estelle during a presentation on Wednesday, Nov. 6.
Further details on the state of Alaska's mining industry, as well as election updates and what that could mean for mining, Alaska, and the nation, will provided during presentations and watercooler conversations at the AMA's "Critical mining for these critical times" trade show and convention to be held Nov. 4-7 at the Dena'ina Center in Anchorage, Alaska.
Over his more than 16 years of covering mining and mineral exploration, Shane has become renowned for his ability to report on the sector in a way that is technically sound enough to inform industry insiders while being easy to understand by a wider audience.
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