Titan Mining (NYSE-A: TII; TSX: TI) is working to become the first commercial graphite producer in the United States in 70 years while pursuing an historic agreement with the Army to set up a graphite processing plant on a base in Alabama.
The proposed deal would see Titan ship graphite concentrate from its main Kilbourne mine and demonstration plant in upstate New York to the Anniston Army Depot, where Titan’s Empire Mines subsidiary would further process the graphite using some existing infrastructure. The depot is about 145 km northeast of Alabama state capital Montgomery.
“It’s great to be able to produce a concentrate, but unless you can refine it down further, you end up facing that same situation where you’re basically exporting the midstream back to China or somewhere else,” Titan CEO Rita Adiani told The Northern Miner in an October interview.
“This allows us to effectively get to an end-to-end product domestically, which is pretty significant from a supply chain security standpoint.”
Government-industry momentum
Selected under the U.S. Army’s Strategic Capital Initiatives (SCI) program in June, the base partnership marks significant cooperation between the government, military and industry as the U.S. increasingly seeks to bring critical mineral supply chains under domestic control and outside the influence of China.
Of the three Army bases under consideration, including Fort Drum in New York and Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas, Titan’s Anniston base deal has progressed to a commercial term sheet, although a definitive lease remains outstanding. The Anniston lease covers an initial 50 years with two additional 25-year renewal options.
The other companies selected under the SCI program include REalloys (Nasdaq: ALOY) and Ioneer (ASX: INR), which received conditional lease awards to develop separate heavy rare earth and boron processing facilities, respectively, at Tooele Army Depot in Utah; and private firm EnergyX, which has a conditional lease for a lithium plant at the Red River base in Texas.
13-year life
Kilbourne could produce about 40,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate annually at nameplate capacity over a 13-year life, according to a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) from 2025. Titan began production at Kilbourne in January and has shipped at least 1,600 kg of graphite concentrate to customers.
Discounted at 7%, it has a post-tax net present value of $513 million, a post-tax internal rate of return of 37% and initial costs of $156 million.
The PEA is based on 2.4 million inferred tons grading 2.91% graphitic carbon (Cg), containing 653,000 short tons of graphite in open-pit constrained resources, according to a 2024 initial estimate.
A feasibility study is under way for the integrated mining and processing operation, expected to be released in the first half of 2027.
Titan also produces zinc through Empire State Mines at Kilbourne, about 480 km northwest of New York City.
Army base advantages
While there are some industrial sites in the region around Kilbourne that could be compatible with Titan’s downstream processing vision, New York’s permitting timelines are relatively long, Adiani said. As well, permitting a downstream facility requires close access to a wastewater treatment plant, which the Anniston base has.
“[Its] wastewater treatment facility is effectively used for ammunition cleaning,” Adiani said. “That moves things forward from a permitting standpoint, and it makes it easy for us to plug and play into that infrastructure. It ends up saving us a lot of capex and operating costs.”
The timeline to production for the Kilbourne-Anniston supply chain starts with the feasibility study, followed by an investment decision and permits before the end of 2027, Adiani said. Construction would take about 15 months, with production starting in 2028 or 2029.
Fine processing at Anniston
Kilbourne’s graphite concentrate and micronized graphite concentrate would be shipped to Anniston for producing purified micronized graphite (PMG) and then coated spherical purified graphite (CSPG), highly purified graphite that is shaped into tiny particles and used in anodes for lithium batteries.
Initial production of PMG is pegged at 10,000 tons and could start around 2029, Adiani said. Titan is still determining if it would come from Kilbourne or Anniston. A few years later, CSPG output would start from Anniston, ramping up to 20,000 tons.
Kilbourne is also covered by the U.S. government’s FAST-41 permitting program, intended to improve coordination and transparency for major infrastructure projects.
Army’s 10% share
Under Titan’s agreement, the Army has a right of first offer to buy up to 10% of annual PMG and CSPG output. Other potential graphite customers include refractory supplier RHI Magnesita and an unnamed U.S. aerospace and defence manufacturer.
Titan could invest between $30 million and $70 million in the Anniston plant, Adiani said. The U.S. Export-Import Bank has separately proposed up to $120 million in construction financing for Kilbourne and agreed to provide $5.5 million for feasibility work.
Market catch-up
Despite the recent positive developments, Titan’s share price is about 30% over the past year. The stock traded at C$2.74 apiece in Toronto on Thursday, giving the company a market capitalization of C$271.3 million ($190 million). The stock has traded in a 12-month range of C$2.55 to C$7.75.
“The key thing people should remember is that until two years ago Titan traded at 30 cents,” Adiani said. “That 654% increase in two years is not going to be sustained.”
Investors want to see how Titan is de-risking its operations by completing the Kilbourne feasibility study, organizing offtake deals and completing the financing with U.S. EXIM, Adiani suggests. “There are some key catalysts due for later this year and early next year, which will provide that momentum and sustaining back to those levels.”
Source: https://www.mining.com/titan-us-military-team-up-on-graphite/
