SOURCE: Mining.com | May 26, 2026
Graphite One says it has secured a site for its proposed active anode materials (AAM) facility in Ohio while advancing toward development plans and customer qualification.
The site in Conneaut, Ashtabula County, was secured through a license of occupation agreement with Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Company, a subsidiary of Canadian National Railway (CN), the company announced on Tuesday.
The graphite miner said the site would offer direct access to Lake Erie and the Great Lakes shipping corridor, has multi-line rail connectivity through the CN network, and boasts existing power infrastructure, including an on-site substation. There is also capacity for future expansion and scaling, it added.
“This site provides the infrastructure, logistics access and scalability required to support long-term growth,” Graphite One’s chief operating officer Mike Schaffner said in a news release. “It positions the company to efficiently move material and expand production capacity as market demand develops.”
The AAM facility serves as a key link in Graphite One’s strategy to build a vertically integrated supply chain for the battery mineral. The Ohio plant is expected to follow a staged build-out, scaling in 25,000-tonne steps to reach an annual output of 100,000 tonnes of anode material.
Anchoring the supply chain is the company’s flagship Graphite Creek project in Alaska, described by the US Geological Survey as the largest graphite deposit in the country. The proposed open-pit mine located 60 km north of Nome is expected to produce as much as 175,000 tonnes in graphite concentrate over a 20-year life. First production is slated for 2030, subject to permitting and financing.
Last year, the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM) raised its potential funding of Graphite One’s Alaska-to-Ohio supply chain to over $2 billion, including $1.4 billion for the Ohio plant. The Graphite Creek project, which would receive the remaining funds, is currently in the post-feasibility stage and moving through the federal FAST-41 permitting.
Path toward commercial production
Graphite One is also advancing development plans for an Ohio finishing and blending facility, which is one of the three processing facilities that together comprise the AAM facility, with construction completion targeted for the fourth quarter of 2027 and initial production capacity of 10,000 tonnes per year.
Phase 1 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 intended for use in lithium-ion battery applications supporting electric vehicles, grid-scale energy storage, and emerging data center infrastructure demand, the company said.
“We now have a defined path from site control through development to production and customer engagement,” Graphite One CEO Anthony Huston said. “Our objective is to establish a vertically integrated, US-based supply chain capable of supporting long-term North American battery demand.”
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