Graphite Creek permit decision pushed to September 2027

The federal water permit for the country's largest known graphite deposit has slipped a year. The Army Corps of Engineers now expects to finish its water permit for the Graphite Creek mine, 37 miles north of Nome, in September 2027 rather than this month. It has also replaced the shorter environmental review it was running with a longer one.

The Corps made that switch after a preliminary finding that the project "may cause significant effects on the quality of the human environment." An environmental impact statement takes longer than an assessment, requires scoping and public comment, and digs deeper. The new review starts Sept. 16.

The permit application proposes permanently filling about 415 acres of wetlands, streams and other aquatic habitat.

The federal historic preservation review, which is how agencies consult tribes about effects on cultural and historic places, moved from late August to March 2027, a slip of about seven months. The Native Villages of Teller, Brevig Mission and Mary's Igloo have said consultation has been inadequate and that exploration threatens subsistence resources in the Kigluaik Mountains and Imuruk Basin.

Three parts of the review are done: two Endangered Species Act consultations and one on essential fish habitat.

Graphite One announced the switch in July and said it had been working to the standard an impact statement requires from the beginning, and still expects to start production in 2029. Chief executive Anthony Huston said the company fully supports the review. Cindy Towarak Massie, president of Bering Straits Native Corporation, which invested in 2023, called the impact statement in everyone's best interest.

Graphite Creek was the first Alaska mining project added to the federal permitting dashboard, in June 2025. The dashboard is meant to coordinate agency timelines without lowering any of the underlying requirements.