Graphite One (TSX-V:GPH) has begun a three-month research program with Ames National Laboratory to assess rare earth element (REE) recovery from garnet at its Graphite Creek deposit in Alaska, US.
Graphite One is funding the work through a Strategic Partnership Project Agreement with the US Department of Energy. Ames is a department laboratory operated by Iowa State University.
The program will characterise the garnet, test acid leaching, and assess the separation of heavy and light REEs.
Ames will also develop a preliminary scalable flowsheet covering product purification, mass balance, reagent use, water consumption, and waste generation.
Later work will optimise leaching and evaluate separation methods including solvent extraction, stepwise pH adjustment, and fractional crystallisation. The final stage will assess the precipitation and purification of grouped REE products.
President and CEO Anthony Huston says the research will examine the potential additional value of the garnet.
“Our objective is clear: to determine how much additional value these rare earths can add to what is already the largest natural graphite deposit in the US,” Huston says.
The program follows 2025 work that separated garnet grains from Graphite Creek drill core for laboratory analysis.
Graphite One says 85% of the REEs identified in the tested garnet were magnet or heavy rare earths. Dysprosium returned 32–63 parts per million (ppm), yttrium 198–427ppm, and scandium 84–141ppm.
The separated garnet contained REE concentrations two to six times higher than the remaining material. However, the analytical results do not establish metallurgical recoveries or economic viability.
The research complements Graphite One’s integrated US supply-chain plans, including its proposed Ohio anode plant.
Graphite One is a Canadian developer pursuing a US graphite supply chain anchored by Graphite Creek and planned advanced materials manufacturing in Ohio.
Write to France Pinzon at Mining.com.au
Main image: Graphite One
