New Addition to Our Top Picks & Graphite Junior Riding the Critical Minerals Wave

Positive – GPH has received amended non-binding Letters of Interest from the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM), increasing potential debt financing to US$2.07B (previously US$0.90B). Funds will be used to build GPH’s proposed Alaska graphite mine, and Ohio treatment plant, producing battery anode materials and other refined graphite products. We view this as a major vote of confidence in GPH’s portfolio and management. GPH’s Graphite Creek project in Alaska is the largest known graphite deposit in the Americas. The company aims to build a U.S.-based graphite supply chain. EXIM would cover 70% of capital costs. GPH is in discussions with leading investment banks to finance the remaining 30%. We believe the U.S. has a pressing need for domestic graphite production, as it currently imports 100% of its graphite consumption, and has designated graphite as a critical mineral. While the global graphite market is currently in surplus, it is expected to shift to a supply deficit by the end of the decade, suggesting a robust long-term price outlook.

Positive – This financing follows a successful drill program totaling 13,290 m across 19 holes, the largest in the company’s history. The program confirmed that the Hat copper-gold-cobalt-scandium project in B.C. hosts a large, vertically extensive system, with every hole intersecting mineralization. Drilling also extended mineralization beyond the 2024 open-pit design, indicating potential for resource expansion. We anticipate an updated resource estimate and PEA in the coming months.

Positive – All 11 holes on a historic waste rock pile intersected mineralization, with grades up to 2.34 g/t Au and 68 g/t Ag (in our view, grades >0.5 g/t Au and >50 g/t Ag are attractive), suggesting the pile could potentially be economic. NPR is awaiting results from an additional 14-hole program. Management plans follow-up drilling and metallurgical tests next year. Prospect Mountain is a past-producing gold-silver-lead project in Nevada’s Eureka district, adjacent to i-80 Gold’s Ruby Hill project (TSX: IAU), and McEwen Inc.’s (NYSE: MUX) Eureka property.