Since the Graphite One Project graphite deposit occurs in a quartz-granite-biotite-sillimanite schist, which is a high grade metamorphic rock, the Graphite Creek mineralization is considered to be of a Flake Graphite Type Mineralization.

The Kigluaik Group consists of amphibolite and granulite facies metamorphic rocks and is therefore divided into two sub-groups, an upper and lower assemblage. Amphibolite grade upper Kigluaik Group schist is exposed on the southern flanks of the Kigluaik mountain range. Pelitic gneiss samples from the upper section of the Kigluaik group have been dated using Rb/Sr to ~735 Ma (Bunker et al., 1979). The basal Kigluaik Group contains granulite grade schist and gneiss, and is exposed on north flank of the mountains. These rocks have no direct counterparts in the adjacent mountain ranges and are believed to represent the deepest crustal rocks exposed in northwestern Alaska (Miller, 1994). The lower Kigluaik Group comprises coarse marble, quartzo-feldspathic gneiss, schist and gneiss of mafic and ultramafic composition, graphite rich schist, and garnet lherzolite.

The Graphite Creek graphite deposit is located on the north side of the Kigluaik Mountains (at about 230 m elevation). More specifically, the graphitic schist occurs on the upslope and footwall surface trace of the reactivated Kigluaik normal fault. The Kigluaik Fault generally strikes at approximately azimuth 250º and dips 75º to the north over a distance of appro ........

The Graphite Creek deposit has been planned to be developed as an open pit mine. Material will be drilled and blasted on 8 m benches and then excavated using 7 m3 front-end loaders, and 55t trucks. Ore will be processed at a nominal production rate of 1 Mt/a or 2,740 t/d. Over the lifeof-mine (LOM), the mine will produce 22.5 Mt of ore at an average graphite grade of 5.6% Cg, along with 50 Mt of waste. Ore material is to be sent directly to the primary crusher or a temporary stockpile, located 2 km to the East of the pit. Waste material will be co-mingled with tailings in the Tailings Management Facility (TMF) located 1.5 km North of the pit.

The Graphite Creek Deposit contains several graphite zones which dip generally to the north at 40° to 78°. The strike length of the deposit is several kilometers long; however, the current defined resources of the deposit is approximately 1 km long. The thickness of the modeled graphite zones within the pit area varies widely from 4 m to 60 m and where mineralized zones run parallel to each other, the distance between the host rock hanging wall and footwall can exceed 180 m. The Kigluaik fault runs parallel to the strike of the deposit and the current assumption is that all material North of this fault is overburden or loose rock type material.

Open pit mining has been selected as the mining method for the Graphite Creek deposit due to its relatively low cost (versus underground mining methods) and the near-surface ........

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