Charlotte McLeod reports that given the seeming inevitability of a graphite supply crunch, it should be no surprise that investor interest in the metal is rising. However, China is the top producer of graphite by a long shot, and it is not particularly easy, or indeed desirable, to invest in companies mining graphite there.
Instead, many investors are looking to North America for graphite investing opportunities, particularly since Tesla Motors announcement that it plans to source the lithium, graphite and cobalt it needs for its gigafactory from companies working on the continent. The fact that Tesla recently backed up that statement by signing two lithium supply deals with companies whose projects are in North America has only strengthened interest in the area.
But while investors are keen to take stakes in North America-focused graphite companies, the fact remains that very few companies are producing graphite there. In fact, in 2014 only two North American countries produced any graphite at all, Canada put out 30,000 MT of the metal while Mexico produced just 8,000 MT. Meanwhile, the U.S. produced none at all.
Market watchers are thus understandably wondering whether North American graphite production is set to rise, and in particular whether graphite mining in the U.S. will ever happen. On that note, this is a look at the history of U.S. graphite production and what the country may do in the future.
Graphite One Resources Inc. is advancing the Graphite Creek Deposit in Alaska which is North American largest known large flake graphite deposit. Graphite is deemed a critical material by the US and other countries, and about a century ago it was mined, mostly in Alabama. A New York Times article states that in 1916 the country produced 10.9 million pounds of crystalline graphite, while in 1917, it put out 2,622 tons of amorphous graphite.
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