Titan Mining starts graphite production at New York plant

[Ben Graham]

Titan Mining (TSX:TI, NYSE-A:TII), a zinc producer in upstate New York and an emerging graphite producer, announced Monday it has commenced graphite concentrate production at its Kilbourne demonstration facility. 

Located within Titan’s Empire State Mine infrastructure in St. Lawrence County, about 300 km northwest of state capital Albany, the fully permitted 1,200-tonne-per-year pilot plant is now in full operations. 

Titan said it has successfully produced natural flake graphite concentrate, now transitioning to the production of material for customer and government qualification programs, marking the first step in re-establishing a domestic natural graphite supply chain in the United States for the first time in more than seven decades. 

The company is targeting 40,000 tonnes/year capacity, potentially meeting ~50% of U.S. graphite demand once fully scaled. 

Titan is also advancing financing discussions with the US Export-Import Bank with respect to the previously announced letter of interest for the $120 million loan facility, which would provide long-term, non-dilutive capital funding for the majority of the Kilbourne project’s development, and expects to have an update in the near term. The company said it is also engaged with other federal agencies regarding complementary, accretive funding solutions. 

This production coincides with the issuance of a new Executive Order by the White House directing the application of Section 232 authorities to processed critical minerals and their derivative products, including natural graphite, in response to persistent U.S. import dependence and downstream supply-chain vulnerabilities.  

“With Kilbourne now producing, Titan is aligned with the federal government’s clear policy direction: rebuilding secure, end-to-end U.S. supply chains for critical minerals,” Titan CEO Rita Adiani said in a news release. 

“The combination of first domestic production and decisive trade and industrial policy action materially de-risks the path to commercial scale.” 

By market close in Toronto Monday, Titan’s stock was up 6.3%. The company has a C$613.6 million ($447.3m) market capitalization.