Graphite One Drills Numerous High Grade, Near Surface Intercepts at Graphite Creek Project, Alaska, Including 15.2m of 22.2% Cg Consistent High Grade Drilling Results to be included in upcoming Pre-Feasibility Study
Graphite One Drills Numerous High Grade, Near Surface Intercepts at
Graphite Creek Project, Alaska, Including 15.2m of 22.2% Cg
Consistent High Grade Drilling Results to be included in upcoming Pre-Feasibility Study
VANCOUVER, BC
,
June 8, 2022
/CNW/ -
Graphite One Inc.
(TSXV: GPH) (OTCQX: GPHOF)
("Graphite One" "G1" or the "Company"),
planning a complete
domestic U.S. supply chain for advanced graphite materials, is pleased to announce drill results from its 2021 field program at its Graphite Creek Project
("
Graphite Creek
" or the "
Project
"), located in the Kigluaik Mountains on the
Seward Peninsula
approximately 37 miles north of
Nome, Alaska
. Graphite Creek is
currently recognized by the US Geological Survey as the largest and highest grade graphite resource in
the United States
1
.
The 2021 field program was conducted from July to
October 2021
and comprised a total of 2,150 meters This included 8 core holes in the areas of inferred
resources to upgrade them to measured and indicated resources, and 9 geotechnical holes.
The drill results will be included in the upcoming pre-feasibility study ("
PFS
"), with details provided below.
Select Drill Results Include:
21GOC060 returned
16.03m
of 6.9% Cg
,
18.75m
of 5.04% Cg
and
28.5m of 5.13% Cg
in three separate intervals starting from
54m
downhole.
21GOC061 returned
29.15m
of 5.83% Cg
including
3m
of 11.73% Cg
starting from
51m
downhole.
21GC062 returned
42.4m
of 11.61%
Cg
from
45m
including
15.21m
of 22.2% Cg
and
5.81m
of 35.78% Cg.
21GC064 returned
53.95m
of 5.67% Cg
from
77.3m
.
21GOC68 returned
24.99m
of 5.56% Cg
from
57.73m
, including
5.51m
of 9.1% Cg.
_____________________
1
https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/619e7a34d34eb622f696bdbf
Interpretation of Results:
Drill results continue to show consistent, near surface high-grade intercepts with numerous holes returning grades greater than 10% and up to 35.78%
graphitic carbon (Cg).
The deposit remains open downdip, as well as along strike to the east and west demonstrating potential for Graphite Creek to become a generational
domestic graphite asset.
The fault boundary to the north was more accurately identified, extending the mineralized zone in this direction by 50 to 75 meters down dip.
Drilling targeted Inferred resources to upgrade to measured and indicated resource.
Graphite One Drills Numerous High Grade, Near Surface Intercepts at Graphite Creek Project, Alaska, Including 15.2m of 22.2% Cg (CNW Group/Graphite One
Inc.)
"Our 2021 drill results continue to demonstrate excellent continuity with our past exploration programs and should provide the opportunity to increase the resource
and reserve estimates for the PFS", said
Anthony Huston
, CEO of Graphite One. "With our planned mine area of approximately 1 km of the overall 16 km
anomaly, our deposit remains open downdip and along strike to the east and west of the known resource -- demonstrating that Graphite Creek has potential to
become a critical domestic graphite supply for
the United States
for a long time to come."
Pre-Feasibility Study Update:
Graphite One will be incorporating these drill results in its upcoming PFS, which is expected to be filed within 45 days from the date of this press release. The
PFS will update the known mineral resource, while providing new economic guidance on the Project.
"The PFS will include the results from our 2021 program and should increase confidence that Graphite Creek is a generational asset -- a vital graphite resource in
the United States
," continued Mr. Huston. The United States currently has no domestic production and relies 100% on importing graphite to meet the nation's
energy transition needs.
On
January 15, 2021
Graphite One received notice that the Company's Graphite Creek Project has been designated a High-Priority Infrastructure Project (HPIP)
by the U.S. Government's Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Committee (FPISC). The approval is the culmination of a process that began on
October 4,
2019
with
Alaska
Governor
Mike Dunleavy's
nomination of Graphite One's project for High-Priority Infrastructure Project designation.
"Designating the Graphite Creek Project as a High-Priority Infrastructure Project will send a strong signal that the U.S. intends to end the days of our 100%
import-dependency for this increasingly critical mineral," said
Alaska
Governor
Mike Dunleavy
in his nomination letter.
According to the FPISC's notice letter, the FPISC has "…determined, in consultation with [Office of Management and Budget] OMB and [Council on Environmental
Quality] CEQ, that this project clearly qualifies under the 'manufacturing' and 'renewable energy' sectors, among several other sectors."
The Graphite Creek designation came as the Biden Adminstration highlighted electric vehicles ("EV") and EV infrastructure as central to green energy policy.
According to renewable energy analyst
Simon Moores
of the UK's Benchmarket Minerals Intelligence: "What we expect from the Biden Administration is to simply
make one of their policies to make gigafactories across the whole country at scale in order to turbo-charge and protect their biggest automobile companies such
as Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) and General Motors Co. (NYSE:GM)." As
Shane Lasley
of North of 60 Mining News reports in regard to the EV and renewable
energy sectors, "Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is not the only automarket vying for graphite and other battery metals. With every major carmaker adding electrified
models to their lineup, the number of EVs being built each year is expected to expand from about 2 million this year to more than 25 million by 2030 and 55 million
by 2040."
Highlights of the results are provided in the following table:
Table 1: Length-Weighted Select Composites from 2021 Drill Results
2
Hole #
Section
Azimuth
Dip
Total Depth (m)
From (m)
To (m)
Width (m)
% Cg
21GC060
4750
124
-55
150.88
54.17
70.2
16.03
6.9
76.45
95.2
18.75
5.04
110.5
139
28.5
5.13
21GC061
4700
184
-45
164.9
51
80.15
29.15
5.83
Including:
72.5
75.5
3
11.73
21GC062
4800
178
-57
140.82
45.26
87.66
42.4
11.61
Including:
60.32
75.53
15.21
22.29
And
66.47
67.47
1
56.9
And
61.66
67.47
5.81
35.78
21GC063
4850
145
-45
152.1
48.55
86.25
37.7
4.84
Including:
63.75
69.5
5.75
7.63
And
74.5
76.5
2
13.11
128.2
152.1
23.9
4.15
Including:
147.75
149.5
1.75
25.4
21GC064
4800
173
-52
167.64
42.48
49.9
7.42
4.35
55.5
60.1
4.6
6.44
77.3
131.25
53.95
5.67
Including:
93.5
95.5
2
18.75
And
119.25
124
4.75
10.03
21GC065
4850
147
-46
167.64
78.5
130
51.5
4.87
Including:
84.33
92.3
7.97
9.37
114
115
1
18.8
21GC066
160
-50
4600
325.53
39.25
69.35
30.1
3.31
Including:
64.5
66.35
1.85
10.53
21GC068
144
-57
4375
195.68
57.73
82.72
24.99
5.56
Including:
58.19
63.7
5.51
9.1
88.08
116.7
28.62
5.33
156.5
160
3.5
6.9
________________________
2
Composites are a minimum of 1 meter length, with a maximum internal dilution of 1 meter, and a cutoff grade of 3%. Drill orientation is nominally orthogonal to mineralization; however, drill results may not be representative of true width of mineralization.
Geotechnical Engineering and Baseline Studies Advanced
The 2021 field program also included engineering and environmental studies in proposed millsite and tailings/mine rock management areas, and along the
proposed access corridor connecting to the State-maintained road system on the Seward Peninsula. The field program also continued environmental baseline
studies across the project area
.
This work will provide input for the PFS that is anticipated to be completed by mid-2022 and will also help guide the 2022 field
program and the anticipated Feasibility Study to follow.
QA/QC Program
Graphite One maintains a rigorous QA/QC program with respect to the preparation, shipping, analysis and checking of all samples and data from the property.
Quality control for drill programs at the Company's projects covers the complete chain of custody of samples, including verification of drill hole locations (collar
surveys and down-hole directional surveys), core handling procedures (logging, sampling, sample shipping) and analytical-related work, including duplicate
sampling, "check analyses" at other laboratories and the insertion of standard and blank materials. The QA/QC program also includes data verification
procedures.
Mr.
Andrew K. Angel
, P. Geo, with Alaska Earth Sciences, Inc. (AES) provided oversite to the 2021 drilling and sampling program. Mr. Angel is a Qualified
Person as defined under NI 43
101 and has reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.
Graphite One's Supply Chain Strategy
With the
United States
currently 100 per cent import dependent for natural graphite, Graphite One is planning to develop a complete U.S.-based, advanced
graphite supply chain solution anchored by the Graphite Creek resource near Nome,
Alaska
. The Graphite One project plan us anticipated to include an advanced
graphite material and battery anode manufacturing plant expected to be sited in
Washington State
with the development of the Graphite Creek resource. The
plan includes a recycling facility to reclaim graphite and the other battery materials, to be co-located at the
Washington State
site, the third link in Graphite One's
circular economy strategy.
As announced on
March 7th
3
, Graphite One's Graphite Creek resource in
Alaska
has been cited as the largest known graphite deposit in
the United States
by the
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in its updated U.S. Mineral Deposit Database (USMIN).
_____________________
3
https://www.graphiteoneinc.com/u-s-government-cites-graphite-ones-graphite-creek-as-the-largest-graphite-deposit-in-the-united-states/
The USGS report confirms Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy's statement in support of Graphite One's designation as a U.S. government high-priority infrastructure
project, stating, "Graphite Creek is the largest deposit of graphite in the nation and would be a superior domestic supply of this critical mineral.
About Graphite One Inc.
GRAPHITE ONE INC. (GPH: TSX
V; GPHOF: OTCQB) continues to develop its Graphite One Project (the "Project"), whereby the Company could potentially
become 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, process and manufacture high grade anode materials primarily for the lithium
ion electric vehicle battery market. As set forth in the
Company's Preliminary Economic Assessment, potential graphite mineralization mined from the Company's Graphite Creek Property, is expected to be processed
into concentrate at a graphite processing plant. The proposed processing plant would be located on the Graphite Creek Property situated on the
Seward
Peninsula
about 60 kilometers north of
Nome
, Alaska. Graphite anodes and other value
added graphite products would be manufactured from the concentrate
and other materials at the Company's proposed advanced graphite materials manufacturing facility, the location of which is the subject of further study and
analysis. The Company intends to make a production decision on the Project once a feasibility study is completed.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
"Anthony Huston" (signed)
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, including those related to the timing and completion of the anticipated Preliminary
Feasibility Study, future production, establishment of a processing plant and a graphite manufacturing plant, establishment of a battery materials recycling
facility, and events or developments that the Company intends, expects, plans, or proposes are forward-looking statements Generally, forward
looking
information can be identified by the use of forward
looking terminology such as "proposes", "expects", "is expected", "scheduled", "estimates", "projects",
"plans", "is planning", "intends", "assumes", "believes", "indicates", "to be" or variations of such words and phrases that state that certain actions, events or
results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". The Company cautions that there is no certainty that tests of the Company's
material will be successful or that such tests will result in the development of successful products. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed
in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or
developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in
forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continuity of mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to
obtain necessary permits, licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition, changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource
exploration and exploitation, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Readers are cautioned
not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is expressed in this press release, and the Company undertakes
no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable securities laws. For more information on the
Company, investors should review the Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at
www.sedar.com
.
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For further information:
For more information on Graphite One Inc., please visit the Company's website, www.GraphiteOneInc.com or contact: Anthony Huston,
CEO, President & Director, Tel: (604) 889-4251, Email: [email protected]; Investor Relations Contact: Tel: (604) 684-6730,
[email protected]; On Twitter @GraphiteOne
CO: Graphite One Inc.
CNW 11:04e 08-JUN-22