Graphite One wins defense award to evaluate Graphite Creek carbon for high-heat uses

The Defense Logistics Agency, the military's supply chain agency, has awarded Graphite One (Alaska) Inc. a program to develop and evaluate domestically sourced advanced carbon materials for high-temperature defense thermal management, the company announced Monday. The materials come from the company's Graphite Creek deposit, which lies north of Nome.

The demonstration project will test advanced carbon-based composite materials to see whether domestic sources can perform in high-temperature systems, according to the company. The work covers material processing, thermal evaluation and performance reporting. Graphite One will partner with Idaho National Laboratory, a Department of Energy facility, and outside industry consultants. Graphite One Advanced Systems, the company's platform for next-generation graphite technologies, will manage the project.

Vaibhav Jain, a program manager in the agency's research and development office, said in the company's release that "evaluating and qualifying domestic material sources remains an essential part of strengthening supply chain resilience."

"We look forward to demonstrating how domestically sourced materials can meet rigorous high-temperature performance requirements," Anthony Huston, president and CEO of Graphite One, said in the release.

The company calls the award its third defense logistics development agreement since 2023. It did not disclose a dollar value or name the other two. Its earlier federal support, both from 2023, included a $37.5 million Defense Department grant for a feasibility study under a Defense Production Act program that treats graphite as a material essential to national defense, and a $4.7 million agency contract to develop a graphite and graphene-based fire suppressant, according to an Oct. 19 company release.

The company says the U.S. Geological Survey has identified Graphite Creek as the nation's largest known graphite deposit. The award is for evaluation and demonstration work. The company says its broader supply chain plan, which would ship material through the Port of Nome to manufacturing in Ohio, remains subject to project financing.

The mine itself is still working through permits. Alaska News reported July 28 that the federal water permit decision had slipped to September 2027. At a June meeting, Teller residents pressed the company on subsistence risks to caribou, fish and marine mammals.