Amid a battery boom, graphite mining gets a fresh look in the US

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GOUVERNEUR, N.Y. (AP) — Graphite mines in the United States largely closed down seven decades ago. Mining the ubiquitous mineral found in everything from nuclear reactors to pencils seemed to make little sense when it could be imported inexpensively from other nations, especially China.

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That view is changing now.

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Demand for graphite, a key material in the lithium-ion batteries that power everything from phones to electric cars, is surging as trade tensions with China persist. With federal officials concerned about the steady supply of a number of critical minerals, several companies have plans to mine graphite.

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In New York, Titan Mining Corp. has mined a limited amount of ore from a deposit in snowy woods about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Canadian border, aiming for commercial sales by 2028. Company officials believe the geopolitical winds are at their backs to sell graphite concentrate for high-tech, industrial and military uses. That could include heat-resistant coatings in factories, anodes in large lithium-ion batteries connected to electrical grids and lubricants for military vehicles, according to the company.

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“We believe there is a real opportunity here,” said company CEO Rita Adiani. “We have the ability to supply a significant portion of U.S. needs. And that’s largely because you can’t see China now as a reliable supply-chain partner.”

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Trade tensions with China rose this year as President Donald Trump’s administration imposed higher tariffs, though those tensions eased somewhat after Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in October during a regional economic summit in South Korea.

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The northern New York deposit is in a rural region with a rich history of graphite, iron ore and garnet mining. The iconic yellow Ticonderoga pencil was named for a town several hours east of this deposit where graphite was mined long ago.

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Titan’s Joel Rheault recently held up a rock from the newly mined area. It was an ordinary-looking flecked fragment of schist, glinting slightly in the sun. But it was comprised of roughly 3% graphite.

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“You can see how gray the rock is here,” said Rheault, the company’s vice president of operations. “That’s because of that graphite.”

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A critical mineral

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Graphite can conduct electricity and withstand high temperatures, making it useful for a host of commercial and military applications. As such, the Department of Energy has said the need for graphite is critical, and the Department of the Interior lists it as one of 60 “critical minerals,” along with more than a dozen rare earth elements.

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Forecasters also expect global graphite demand to continue soaring in the next decade, alongside the battery boom. That includes both mined, or “natural,” graphite and manufactured, or “synthetic,” graphite, which tends to be purer but pricier. Lithium-ion batteries’ anodes can use a mix of both.

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China dominance in supplying both of natural and synthetic graphite has worried U.S. policymakers for years. Concerns spiked recently when China placed new export controls on graphite and several other minerals, only to relax them for a year.