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 mining methodology is planned as a truck and shovel operation mining along several contiguous, en-echelon, pits starting at the outcrop and progressing in the down dip direction. This method of mining allows the maximum flexibility as the equipment is highly mobile and can be moved between the active mining pits to offer the most economic extraction of the material and allow the mining engineers a high degree of flexibility in mining the resource-bearing material in a manner which allows the delivery of a consistent grade to the processing plant.

The mining operation would be conducted along 4 active benches: Bench 1 – Overburden extraction, Bench 2 – Mining of Lode 1, Bench 3 – Extraction of Inter-burden, and Bench 4 – Mining of Lode 2/3. As mining progresses with time, the benches will proceed along the outcrop surface and will also continue to mine to depth in the down dip direction.

Bench 1: This initial bench will remove the non-graphite bearing material from the surface down to the top of the graphite-bearing Lode 1. The mining involved with this bench will remove the non-graphite bearing material situated from the topographic surface down to the top of the graphite-bearing Lode 1. As this bench will initiate at the outcrop, the initial bench will be thin, but will increase in volume as the land surface rises and the natural dip of the graphite mineralization progresses to greater depths. It is noted that the topsoil extracted from this zone w ........

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