Grade and tonnage data for disseminated flake graphite deposits

Crystalline graphite is a primary material in lithium-ion battery anodes which are essential in moving towards green energy. Forecasts for 2040 anticipate an order of magnitude increase in graphite demand driven by sustainable development policies to reduce carbon emissions. Domestic production of graphite ceased in the 1980s after a steady decline post-World War I, meaning the United States relies on natural graphite imports from producers such as China or high-cost synthetic graphite. The current crystalline graphite flake model was released in 1992 and used 100 sites with graphite production. The updated grade and tonnage model uses 72 graphite sites with reports of flake graphite. The updated model implies economically relevant deposits likely contain a median of 23 million metric tons (Mt) of contained graphite. Ore tonnages range from 3.1 Mt in the 10th quantile (Q10) to 170 Mt in the 90th quantile (Q90). Grades range from 3.5 wt% graphitic carbon (Cg) in Q10 to 16 wt% Cg in Q90, with a median of 7.7 wt% Cg. The updated grade and tonnage model provides essential information for evaluating domestic graphite resources and highlights the potential for mining graphite from crystalline rocks in Alabama and Alaska.