Graphite One Inc. announced the detection of rare earth elements (REEs) in its Graphite Creek deposit near Nome, Alaska. Independent geochemical analyses by Activation Laboratories Ltd. identified all five principal magnet-critical rare earths—neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium and samarium—in garnet-bearing drill core samples collected within the feasibility-study pit outline. This discovery complements Graphite Creek’s status as the largest known natural graphite deposit in the United States, whose resource estimate was tripled in a February 2025 feasibility study.
The feasibility pit, which represents roughly 12 percent of the site’s 15.3-kilometer mineralized zone and supports a projected twenty-year mine life, will now be evaluated for potential REE recovery. Graphite One President Anthony Huston noted that the co-occurrence of graphite and critical rare earths under the Defense Production Act Title III underscores Graphite Creek’s generational scale, and that extracting REEs as a by-product could enhance project value.
“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,” said Anthony Huston, President of Graphite One. “Given the robust economics of our planned complete graphite materials supply chain, the presence of Rare Earths at Graphite Creek suggests that recovery as a by-product to our graphite production will maximize the value.”
Test work on twenty-one representative quartz-biotite-garnet-sillimanite samples also revealed elevated heavy rare earths, scandium and yttrium—elements known to concentrate in garnet structures, according to Chief Geologist Dr. Kirsten Fristad. These findings arrive amid export restrictions imposed by China on magnet-critical REEs in February 2024 and tightened graphite exports in December 2024, emphasizing the strategic need for domestic sources.
Building on initial bulk rock analyses, Graphite One is conducting further test work at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Advanced Instrumentation Laboratory and is in discussions with a Department of Energy national laboratory to develop extraction and separation methods for individual REEs.
The project’s feasibility study was completed more than a year ahead of schedule with support from a $37.5 million Defense Production Act Title III grant. In September 2025, the company received a non-binding letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank for $570 million in mine development funding, following an earlier $325 million letter for an advanced graphite facility in Ohio. Graphite One is advancing plans for a vertically integrated domestic graphite supply chain, including material transport via Nome and anode material manufacturing and recycling operations in Warren, Ohio.
Source: Graphite One Inc.
