Spotlight on Two Juniors Focused on U.S. Critical Minerals

Below is a brief summary of two junior resource companies, one focused on graphite, and the other on rare earths, on which we recently initiated due diligence. We plan to launch coverage on both in the coming weeks.

Graphite One Inc. (TSXV: GPH / OTCQX: GPHOF / MCAP: $103M): 

Advancing America’s Largest Graphite Deposit, Gaining Support from the U.S. Government and Industry Players

Graphite One Inc. is developing the largest known graphite deposit in the U.S. at its Graphite Creek property near Nome, Alaska, a large-scale/open-pit project. The company aims to build a fully integrated supply chain from mine to battery-ready anode material for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles (EVs), and energy storage systems.

GPH plans to mine graphite from Graphite Creek, and process it into concentrates, which will be used to manufacture both natural and synthetic graphite anode active materials (AAM) at a proposed manufacturing facility in Ohio.

A 2025 Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS) returned an AT-NPV8% of US$5.0B, and an AT-IRR of 27%, based on a 20-year mine life. Despite these strong economics, GPH is currently trading at just 1.4% of its after-tax NPV. The study estimated total CAPEX of US$5.0B, including US$0.9B in contingency. To reduce upfront costs and execution risk, GPX plans a phased buildout using a modular approach with 25,000 tpy units. The first module is expected to require CAPEX of US$607M, including US$121M in contingency—a figure we believe is highly reasonable given the project’s large-scale potential.

While GPH has been advancing its project for over a decade, we believe it is now entering a critical phase of development, gaining meaningful traction from both the U.S. government and key industry players. Management is targeting initial production by 2028, and several recent developments reinforce our conviction in GPH’s ability to bring its vertically integrated graphite supply chain into reality. Key factors supporting our view include:

• 100% U.S. import reliance on graphite, with China dominating global supply.
• Graphite is designated a critical mineral by the U.S. government, making domestic supply a national priority.
• China’s graphite export restrictions underscore the urgency for U.S.-based production.
• GPH has received a US$37.5M grant from the U.S. Department of Defense
• The Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC), the local native group in the Graphite Creek project area, has committed to making a US$10.4M investment in GPH.
• GPH has received a US$325M LOI from U.S. EXIM Bank to support phased buildout.
• Graphite One has signed two non-binding supply agreements with Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID), a U.S. electric vehicle maker, for both natural and synthetic graphite anode active materials.
• GPH was recently included on the U.S. Government’s FAST-41 Federal Permitting Dashboard, placing it among a select group of critical minerals projects eligible for expedited federal permitting.

We will launch coverage in the coming weeks. 

American Rare Earths Limited (ASX: ARR / OTCQX: ARRNF / MCAP: US$82M):

Advancing One of the Largest Rare Earth Deposits in the U.S

American Rare Earths owns four rare earth projects in the U.S – the Halleck Creek and Beaver Creek in Wyoming, La Paz in Arizona, and Searchlight in Nevada.

Its flagship 100%-owned Halleck Creek project in Wyoming hosts one of the largest rare earth deposits in the U.S. The deposit is open-pittable, with mineralization extending to depths of 300 m, offering significant scale and development potential.

A 2025 Scoping Study returned an after-tax NPV10% of US$558M, and an IRR of 24%, based on a 3 Mtpa production scenario. An expanded 6 Mtpa case yielded an NPV10% of US$1.17B, and an IRR of 28%. Despite these robust economics, ARR is currently trading at just 6% of its after-tax NPV in the expanded case. 

Scoping Study Highlights 

The project’s strategic significance is underscored by a US$456M LOI from the U.S. EXIM Bank, which fully covers the estimated CAPEX for the 3 Mtpa scenario. We also note that the Scoping Study was highly conservative, utilizing only 19% of the total resource. Moreover, the current resource envelope covers only 16% of the entire land package.

The company plans to complete an updated resource estimate and a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) by Q4-2025. In 2024, the Wyoming Energy Authority approved a US$7.4M grant to support ARR’s advancement of the Halleck Creek project.

With China dominating global rare earth supply and imposing export restrictions, we believe American-made rare earths are vital for U.S. national security. The following factors highlight why domestic rare earth production is essential for the U.S.

• The U.S. Geological Survey classifies rare earth elements as critical for economic and national security due to their role in clean energy, defense, and technology.
• The U.S. has only one operating rare earth mine, the Mountain Pass mine in California.
• China produces about 69–70% of the world’s rare earths, with the U.S. relying heavily on imports.
• Since 2020, the Department of Defense has invested over U$439M to boost domestic mining, processing, and magnet manufacturing.

We will launch coverage in the coming weeks. 

FRC Top Picks

The following table shows last week’s top five performers among our Top Picks. The top performer, Noram Lithium Corp. (TSXV: NRM), was up 29%. Noram’s Zeus lithium project in Nevada is adjacent to Albemarle’s (NYSE: ALB) Silver Peak mine, the sole lithium-producing operation in the U.S.

* Past performance is not indicative of future performance (as of June 30, 2025)

Our top picks have outperformed the benchmark (TSXV) in every one of the five time periods listed below. 

Performance by Sector 

1. Since the earliest initiating date of companies in the list of Top Picks  (as of June 30, 2025)

2. Green (blue) indicates FRC's picks outperformed (underperformed) the benchmark.

3. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Our complete list of top picks (updated weekly) can be viewed here. https://www.researchfrc.com/top-picks

*Disclaimers - Annual fees ranging from $15,000 to $30,000 have been paid to FRC by Millennial Potash Corp., Silver X Mining Corp., Pulsar Helium Inc., Noram Lithium Corp, Golden Arrow Resources Corporation, Churchill Resources Inc., Fortune Minerals Limited, Zepp Health Corporation, Graphite One Inc., American Rare Earths Limited, and Kidoz Inc. for research coverage, and distribution of reports. FRC or companies with related management, and Analysts, do not hold shares/securities in the companies mentioned in this report.