Canadian mining company Graphite One was potentially months away from receiving the key federal permits it needed for a massive graphite mine on the Seward Peninsula. But a Thursday decision from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is adding a year to that timeline.
The Corps is the lead permitting agency on the project that would produce millions of tons of raw graphite, a key ingredient in batteries. It told Graphite One it now needs to complete a more thorough Environmental Impact Statement, rather than an Environmental Assessment.
Hal Shepherd with the Norton Bay Watershed Council called the decision a “win” for the nearby tribes of Brevig Mission, Teller and Mary’s Igloo.
“If this mine is going to go through, at least the Corps needs to do sufficient environmental and cultural impact analysis, and the way that everybody fully believed it was going to end was that analysis just wasn't going to be completed. In that regard, this is a pretty big win,” he said.
On top of moving toward the more comprehensive EIS, the Corps says it needs more time to complete a Section 106 review. The review is part of the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires agencies to consider the effects on historic properties. Graphite One has unearthed a number of ancient Indigenous artifacts on the property.
The decision follows a year of public comment and consultation with the neighboring communities of Brevig Mission and Teller. The Corps visited the villages in April, where it heard concerns from residents about potential risks to subsistence resources in the nearby Imuruk Basin.
“Brevig Mission fed them a whole meal made up of subsistence resources, and really tried to convey the importance, the absolute criticalness of the Imuruk Basin,” Shepherd said.
Shepherd said it's not unusual for the Corps to start with an Environmental Assessment, then expand its review to an Environmental Impact Statement.
“At the end of that analysis they will decide whether to do an Environmental Impact Statement or what's called a FONSI, a finding of no significant impact. Technically this is what they have been saying all along, that they hadn't decided whether or not to do any EIS yet,” he explained.
The Graphite One project was listed on the federal FAST-41 permitting dashboard last year. The program holds permitting agencies to tight timelines for projects deemed important to American infrastructure. It previously forecast all of the permits to be complete by this September, but now expects the federal permit process to be complete by September 2027.
Graphite One is taking the decision in stride, saying it “supports” the Corps’ recommendation. In a press release, Graphite One CEO, Anthony Huston, said the company “has been preparing for this level of review” and that it “remains confident” it can still open the mine by 2029.
Bering Straits Native Corporation President, Cindy Towarak, agreed with the EIS decision, saying it was a more “comprehensive approach” and gave more opportunities for subsistence users to have their concerns addressed. BSNC, along with two other Alaska Native Corporations, has invested in the project.
After being asked to delay a community meeting scheduled during a subsistence period in early June, Graphite One is returning to Brevig Mission on July 28. The open meeting begins at 2:00 pm in the Multipurpose Building.
