Proceeds of the loan will be used for infill drilling
along trend to Hole 22GC079, drilled 2.1 km west of the current
block model, which encountered 58 meters of 4.18%
graphite
VANCOUVER, BC, July 19,
2023 /CNW/ - Graphite One Inc. (TSXV: GPH)
(OTCQX: GPHOF) ("Graphite One" or the "Company"),
planning a complete domestic U.S. supply chain for advanced
graphite materials, announces today that it and its wholly-owned
subsidiary, Graphite One (Alaska)
Inc. ("G1 Alaska"), have entered
into an unsecured loan agreement for advances of up to US$5 million (the "Loan") with Taiga Mining
Company, Inc. ("Taiga"), a controlling shareholder of the Company.
The loan agreement follows the announcement of a US$37.5 million U.S. Department of Defense grant
to accelerate completion of Graphite One's Feasibility
Study1.
"Graphite One thanks Taiga for its continued support, as the
funding will allow the Company to continue with delinating the
scope and size of our resource," said Anthony Huston, Founder and CEO of Graphite One.
"This funding, like the US$37.5
million DoD grant announced this week, is not dilutive to
our shareholders".
In March, the U.S. Government's US Geological Survey reported
that:
"The Graphite Creek graphite deposit, located in
the Kigluaik Mountains 60 km north of Nome on the Seward
Peninsula, Alaska, is the
largest known flake graphite resource in the USA and is among the largest in the
world2."
Proceeds from the Loan will target doubling the Graphite Creek
resource by infill drilling along trend to Hole 22GC079, drilled
2.1 km west of the current block model, which encountered 58 meters
of 4.18% graphite.
____________________________
|
1 Graphite
One Awarded $37.5 Million Department of Defense Grant Under the
Defense Production Act - Graphite One
(graphiteoneinc.com)
|
2 New US
Government Report Identifies Graphite One Graphite Creek Deposit
"is Among the Largest in the World" - Batteries News
|
The Loan matures in one year and the interest on the Loan will
accrue on the outstanding balance at a rate of twelve percent (12%)
per annum. The Loan can be drawn from time to time or all at once.
As consideration for the Loan being accessible to the Company, G1
Alaska granted Taiga an option to
purchase a net smelter returns royalty interest ("NSR") in
0.25% increments for every US$1,250,000 advance up to a maximum of one
percent (1%) on the 133 Alaska state claims owned or leased by G1,
which the Company bought back (refer to June
21, 2023 press release titled "Graphite One Closes the
Buyback of Net Smelter Production Royalty"). The option may be
exercised at anytime prior to the maturity date and, if exercised,
the outstanding balance of the Loan and accrued interest will be
deemed to be the consideration paid for the purchase of
the NSR. The Loan and the option to acquire the NSR is
subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.
The NSR commences on the first day of the month in which the
first concentrate is produced from certain of the mineral claims
for a period of twenty (20) years. No securities will be issued and
no commission, bonus or finder's fee will be paid in connection
with the Loan.
The Loan constitutes a "related party transaction" within the
meaning of Mulilateral Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority
Security Holders in Special Transaction ("MI 61-101") as
Taiga is an insider and control person of the Company. The Company
is relying on exemptions from the valuation and minority
shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 in sections 5.5(a)
and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, as the fair market value of the Loan
with Taiga does not exceed 25% of the market capitalization of the
Company, as determined in accordance with MI 61-101.
Graphite One's Supply Chain
Strategy
With the United States
currently 100 percent import dependent for natural graphite,
Graphite One is planning to develop a complete U.S.-based, advanced
graphite supply chain solution anchored by the Graphite Creek
resource. The Graphite One project plan includes an advanced
graphite material and battery anode manufacturing plant expected to
be sited in Washington State
integrated with the development of the Graphite Creek Property. The
plan includes a recycling facility to reclaim graphite and the
other battery materials, to be co-located at the Washington State site, the third link in
Graphite One's circular economy strategy.
About Graphite One Inc.
GRAPHITE ONE INC. is developing its Graphite One Project (the
"Project") to become an American producer of high-grade anode
materials on a commercial scale integrated with a domestic graphite
resource. The Project is proposed as a vertically integrated
enterprise to mine, process and manufacture anode materials
primarily for the lithium‐ion electric vehicle battery market. As
set forth in the Company's 2022 Pre-Feasibility Study,
graphite mineralization mined from the Company's Graphite
Creek Property, situated on the Seward
Peninsula approximately 35 miles north of Nome, Alaska, would be processed into
concentrate at an adjacent processing plant. Natural and artificial
graphite anode materials and other value‐added graphite products
would be manufactured from the concentrate and other materials at
the Company's proposed advanced graphite materials manufacturing
facility expected to be located in Washington State. The Company intends to make
a production decision on the Project upon the completion of a
Feasibility Study.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
"Anthony Huston" (signed)
For more information on Graphite One Inc., please visit the
Company's website, www.GraphiteOneInc.com
On Twitter @GraphiteOne
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
This press release contains forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable
securities laws. Any statements that are contained in this press
release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to
be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often
identified by terms such as "may", "should", "anticipate", "will",
"intends", "expects", "exceeds" and similar expressions which are
intended to identify forward-looking information or statements.
Forward-looking statements in this release include the actual use
of proceeds and the receipt of TSXV Venture Exchange approval, The
Company cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently
uncertain, and that actual performance may be affected by a number
of material factors, assumptions and expectations, many of which
are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned that
assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking
information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may
cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a
result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and
other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this
forward-looking information, which is given as of the date it is
expressed in this press release, and the Company undertakes no
obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking
information, except as required by applicable securities laws. For
more information on the Company, investors should review the
Company's continuous disclosure filings that are available at
www.sedar.com.
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SOURCE Graphite One Inc.