White House Actions Boost Graphite One
By Shane Lasley, North of 60 Mining News Graphite One Inc. President and CEO Anthony Huston was among a select group of industry leaders in attendance when President Joe Biden rolled out his plan to levy heavy tariffs on a wide range of goods from China, including natural graphite. “I was honored to represent everyone at Graphite One in the meeting with President Biden,” said Huston. “We appreciate his support for the renewable energy transition and G1 is excited to continue pushing forward to create a secure 100 percent U.S.-based supply chain for natural and synthetic graphite.” As the single largest ingredient in the lithium-ion batteries powering electric vehicles and storing renewable energy, graphite is essential to the clean energy transition. Analysts forecast that the demand for graphite will top 5 million metric tons per year by 2030. This is more than three times the 1.6 million metric tons mined globally during 2023, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. As the primary anode ingredient, graphite makes up around 28 percent of all the materials in lithium-ion batteries for EVs and clean energy storage. There are currently no graphite mines in the U.S., and TEMSCO
domestic graphite processing is still in its earliest stages. This makes America’s clean energy supply chains heavily reliant on China, which accounted for 77 percent of all mined graphite and 90 percent of graphite anode materials produced globally in 2023. To help make graphite mined and processed in the U.S. competitive with China, President Biden announced plans to increase the tariffs on natural graphite imported from China from 0 to 25 percent in 2026. The import levies on graphite are one component of a larger package of tariffs aimed at shielding American businesses from China’s unfair trade practices. As the White House rolls out its heavy tariffs on China, which also include 25 percent tariffs on lithium-ion batteries, which will be phased in over the coming two years, and 100 percent tariffs on EVs beginning this year, Graphite One is advancing its plans to establish an all- American graphite supply chain. This supply chain would begin with a mine at Graphite Creek, a western Alaska project that hosts the largest known graphite deposit in the U.S. and one of the largest in the world, as well as a processing and recycling plant in Ohio that would produce the advanced graphite material
HELICOPTERS, INC.
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TEMSCO Helicopters, Inc. PO Box 5057, Ketchikan, Alaska 99901 Phone 907-225-5141 Fax 907-225-2340 www.temscoair.com
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June 2024 I The Alaska Miner I www.alaskaminers.org
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