Graphite One Reports Ohio Air Permit; 2028 Sales Target Follows Earlier 2027 Plant Forecasts

Update — November 9, 2026: Graphite One now says its proposed Conneaut, Ohio, Phase 1 would process purchased synthetic graphite and other materials into battery anode material, and that the plant is intended to begin making sales without waiting for ore from its planned Alaska mine. This identifies the company's planned input category and purchase route, not an accomplished material purchase or a named supplier.¹

The November 9 issuer statement does not identify where that purchased synthetic graphite would be manufactured or by whom, and provides no executed feedstock order or delivered volume. A U.S. finishing and coating site is therefore not, by itself, evidence of U.S.-origin graphite. Graphite One still describes first sales in Q4 2028 as a target subject to further engineering, approvals, financing, construction and customer qualification—not an operating plant or a newly secured EXIM loan.¹²

Graphite One said on November 2, 2026 that it had received a final Ohio air permit for the first phase of its proposed battery-anode-material plant in Conneaut. But the announcement also puts Phase 1 completion and first sales in the fourth quarter of 2028—later than its previously published late-2027 targets for initial plant completion and the start of production.²³⁴

That distinction matters for anyone tracking when new U.S.-based graphite anode supply might actually reach battery manufacturers. A permit is a development step, not delivered material; and completion, the start of production, and first sales are different milestones. The dated company statements establish a shift toward later stated Ohio milestones, not a precisely measured one-year delay in actual production.²³⁴

How the Ohio and Alaska targets changed

Company statement	Ohio Phase 1, approximately 10,000 tonnes/year	Alaska Graphite Creek mine
June 22, 2026	Phase 1 completion targeted Q4 2027; a separate 25,000-tonne/year Phase 2 expansion targeted completion in Q4 2028.4	No directly comparable mine-production target in this announcement.
July 16, 2026	Synthetic anode-material production expected to begin Q4 2027, subject to approvals and financing.3	Natural graphite production targeted 2029.3
November 2, 2026	Phase 1 completion and first sales targeted Q4 2028, subject to final investment decision, financing and construction.2	Mine production targeted 2030.2

The Alaska comparison is more direct than the Ohio one: Graphite One's forecast for the same milestone, mine production, changed from 2029 to 2030. Both years remain projections. The November announcement also discusses a longer-term expansion strategy but does not restate the June release's specific Q4 2028 target for the 25,000-tonne-per-year second phase.²³⁴

Graphite One has described a strategy in which the Ohio synthetic-anode facility could operate before its planned natural-graphite mine in Alaska. Its November 9 follow-up now specifies purchased synthetic graphite as a planned initial input, but the reviewed company statements still do not name the supplier or country of origin, document completed feedstock procurement, or establish any existing commercial output.²³¹

What the reported permit covers—and what remains

Graphite One identified the approval as Ohio air Permit-to-Install and Operate P0140891, issued and effective October 27, 2026, for the proposed first phase. The company estimates initial capital costs at $80 million for 10,000 tonnes per year of planned finishing, blending and coating capacity. Those figures describe a proposed facility, not a completed plant or operating production rate.²

Ohio EPA's published guidance explains that a PTIO addresses installation and operation of covered air-emissions sources. The agency's general permit guidance does not independently authenticate the specifics of P0140891; the actual issued permit text was not independently inspected for this report. The permit details and dates above are therefore attributed to Graphite One.⁵⁶²

Graphite One says it still needs further building, construction and operating approvals, along with final engineering and financing. It targets a final investment decision, engineering/procurement/construction contracting and construction start by April 2027. None of those future steps is established as completed by the reported air-permit milestone.²

The $2.07 billion figure is not a completed loan

The company's November announcement cites $2.07 billion in combined U.S. Export-Import Bank letters of interest, including a $1.4 billion Ohio letter it describes as amended and nonbinding. Crucially, these are not newly funded November 2026 loans: EXIM documented the underlying $1.4 billion Ohio and $670 million Alaska letters of interest as actions dated December 18, 2025 in its January 5, 2026 year-end recap.²⁷

That distinction leaves financing an outstanding condition, not an achieved step. Graphite One also says it has sent samples to prospective U.S. battery and energy-storage customers for testing and qualification. Its November release does not establish that those tests have produced a named binding purchase agreement or completed customer qualification.²

The next concrete checkpoints are the remaining permits, a funded investment decision, actual construction and independently verifiable output—not the proposed annual capacity or the existence of nonbinding interest letters.²⁷

Sources

Footnotes

1. Graphite One, November 9, 2026 — Graphite One Outlines Path to Production for Ohio Manufacturing Plant Following Air Permit. Original company description of planned purchased synthetic feedstock and Ohio-before-Alaska sequencing. It does not identify a supplier, origin, completed procurement, production or funded loan. M00 research source S001; checked by M20 November 9. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Graphite One, November 2, 2026 — Graphite One Secures Final Ohio Air Permit. Company original announcing the permit, planned capacity, projected first sales and mine timing, remaining approvals and amended nonbinding letter. The underlying Ohio EPA permit was not separately inspected. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³

3. Graphite One, July 16, 2026 — Graphite One Clears Key Ohio EPA Hurdle for Planned Ohio Battery Materials Facility. Original earlier forecasts for Ohio synthetic-anode production and Alaska mine production. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. Graphite One, June 22, 2026 — Graphite One Secures Key Engineering Contract. Original Phase 1 completion and Phase 2 expansion targets. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

5. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, undated; checked November 2, 2026 — PTI and PTIO Information. General permit-type guidance, not the Graphite One-issued document. ↩

6. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, undated; checked November 2, 2026 — eDocument Search. Guidance on locating issued agency documents and posting timing; not confirmation of a specific permit. ↩

7. Export-Import Bank of the United States, January 5, 2026 — EXIM Delivers for America in 2025. Federal primary source identifying the December 18, 2025 letters of interest and their separate amounts; a letter of interest is not a disbursed loan. ↩ ↩²