Graphite One secures Lake Erie battery plant site

Graphite One (TSXV: GPH) said this week it’s secured a site for its battery anode plant east of Cleveland to accept material from the company’s Graphite Creek project in Alaska, deemed America’s largest. 

The site in Conneaut on Lake Erie has direct access to the Great Lakes shipping corridor, multi-line rail connectivity, its own power substation and capacity for expansion, the company said. It’s being leased from a subsidiary of Canadian National Railway (CN). 

Graphite One plans a staged build-out of an initial 25,000-tonne module at the Ohio anode active material plant and a 20-year mine life at Graphite Creek. The Ohio plant would scale in 25,000-tonne steps to reach output of 100,000 tonnes a year of anode material. 

“We now have a defined path from site control through development to production and customer engagement,” Graphite One CEO Anthony Huston said in a release. “Our objective is to establish a vertically integrated, U.S.-based supply chain capable of supporting long-term North American battery demand.”

$2B funding

Last year, the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM) increased potential funding to over $2 billion for Graphite One’s Alaska-to-Ohio supply chain. 

The company’s post-feasibility Graphite Creek project is described by the US Geological Survey as the largest graphite deposit in the country. It’s moving through FAST-41 permitting. 

“This [Ohio] site provides the infrastructure, logistics access, and scalability required to support long-term growth,” chief operating officer Mike Schaffner said. “It positions the company to efficiently move material and expand production capacity as market demand develops.” 

Another plant 

Graphite One is also advancing development plans for an Ohio finishing and blending plant, one of the three processing facilities that comprise the active anode materials facility. Construction completion is targeted for late 2027 with initial production capacity of 10,000 tonnes per year.  

Stage one production is expected to include 4,000 tonnes of energy storage material, 3,000 tonnes of fast-charging material and 3,000 tonnes of high-energy-density material.

It is intended for use in lithium-ion battery applications supporting electric vehicles, grid-scale energy storage, and emerging data centre infrastructure demand, the company said. 

Shares in Graphite One stock gained 2.7% on Wednesday to close at C$1.21 apiece in Toronto, before easing to C$1.19 a day later, valuing the company at nearly C$249 million ($180 million). The stock has lost 37% of its value this year.