Public comment on graphite one mining
Last updated January 27, 2026
A new public comment period is open now until February 2nd for the proposal to open an area outside of Brevig Mission up to mining by Graphite One.
Last fall, we shared about a different comment period for this project, which was for the Army Corps of Engineers. This is a different comment period (this one with the state), so we're encouraging people to please submit a comment even if you already submitted one for the last comment period.
Some background on the project
Graphite One, a Canadian company, proposes to build an open pit mine with a 1,176-acre footprint. Each day, this mine would deliver up to 11,000 tons of ore and handle 35,400 tons of waste. The mine also proposes to not only build a private access road from mile 30 of the Kougarok Road through Mosquito Pass to the mine site but also to build an access ramp for construction staging along the edge of Imuruk Basin.
Besides the mine pit, the proposal calls for a processing plant, a waste management facility, a water treatment facility, a power plant, fuel storage, explosive storage, a helipad and roads, administrative facilities, warehousing, a crusher and a mill, among other facilities. Graphite One proposes an open pit mine that would operate year-round.
The purpose is “to mine graphite and process the graphite into commercially viable ore concentrate for transport to the Port of Nome via a new 17.3-mile gravel access road and the existing Seward Peninsula public road system. The ore concentrate would be shipped out of Alaska for further processing and manufacturing of Coated Spherical Graphite, which would supply material needed for electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries and energy storage as well as other high-grade graphite products.”
Please Request the following Actions:
Deny 401 Certification
Public meetings in Brevig Mission, Nome, and Teller
Issues you can address in your public comment
Harm to subsistence resources and cultural practices and resources
Imuruk Basin, the surrounding lands, are used and stewarded by the local communities for cultural and subsistence activities including fishing, hunting, berry picking, egging, and gathering greens.
Many community members have fish camps around the Imuruk Basin.
The communities of Brevig Mission and Teller depend on the salmon that pass through Imuruk basin and spawn in the rivers and creeks that drain in the basin. Any leaks or spills of wastewater in the mine could harm the waters the salmon depend on. The top 5 operating hardrock mines in Alaska severely underestimated the amount of spills that occur during transport.
Blowing dust would affect the waters, as well as subsistence resources including berry bushes and fodder for moose and other species.
The access road will cross anadromous fish streams 10 times. Any spills from the ore trucks or washouts due to flooding (which are frequent on roads in the Seward Peninsula) could harm these streams and the salmon that spawn in them.
The mine activities will be loud and non-stop, as the mine will operate 365 days per year, 24 hours per day. This will affect animals in the area. Residents of Nome reported they could hear the mining activity of Graphite One all the way from Pilgrim Hot Springs.
Harm to an area that has significant cultural value
Brevig Mission holds a summer youth culture camp in Imuruk Basin.
Archeologists have identified twenty eight cultural sites in the impacted area, but the cultural resource survey contains no detail about survey methodology, transect spacing, duration, seasonal timing, extent of coverage, or community involvement. Many archeological sites have not been fully documented.
The landscape around the mine site is a living archive of Indigenous history, with evidence of seasonal camps, ancient travel routes, and subsistence activities that may span millennia. These sites are deeply tied to the cultural identity and oral histories of local communities.
Harm to public health
Graphite One plans to mill and burn the ore to concentrate it prior to shipping, releasing graphite into the wind near a lagoon many families depend on for potable water. Graphite dust makes water undrinkable.
Mining activities may also release toxic substances from the earth. Ore deposits are often associated with arsenic, lead, mercury and other toxic metals which negatively impact health.
Harm to food security and sovereignty
The seasonal rhythms of subsistence hunting, fishing, and gathering are incompatible with the year round diesel trucking and container handling operations. The noise, emissions, and road maintenance activities will disrupt wildlife patterns and undermine food security for local residents.
The Imuruk Basin is a vital subsistence fishing area for communities like Teller, Brevig Mission, and Nome.
The mine’s proximity to salmon habitat and the potential for water diversions and tailings runoff into the watershed could threaten miles of productive spawning and rearing habitat
Impact to wetlands, waters, and fish
Graphite One will permanently discharge 16,400 cubic yards of fill material into waters including more than 414 acres of wetlands, permanently eliminating 381 acres of waters and wetlands
12,440 feet of natural streams would be diverted.
Graphite One
Treated wastewater will be discharged into Glacier Canyon Creek. If anything goes wrong with the treatment system, untreated wastewater will enter the creek and then flow into Imuruk Basin.
In particular danger from blowing dust and wastewater leaks are the 8 anadromous streams flowing into Windy Bay, all of which are within 3 miles of the mine.
No plan to handle acid mine drainage
The Graphite Creek deposit likely contains Sulfide minerals which are drivers of Acid Rock Drainage. Graphite One documents state that the waste rock and tailing will go acidic to at least pH 4.9. Acid mine drainage (AMD) can persist for decades or centuries, creating chronic water quality issues that are extremely difficult and costly to mitigate.
As sulfuric acid is made, it dissolves rock around it, releasing metals that were previously bound up as solid ore. Elements that make up the rock and mineral ore are released in a dissolved form into groundwater or surface water. Initially when acidic water leaves a mine area, the streams or ponds it enters are impacted by low pH and anoxic kill flora and fauna in the watershed near the discharge.
Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) will affect fish in several ways:
Toxicity from dissolved metals: Low pH increases the solubility of metals, which can damage fish gills, impair reproduction, and cause mortality.
Habitat degradation: Metal precipitates (like iron hydroxide) settle on streambeds, smothering spawning grounds and reducing oxygen exchange.
Food chain disruption: AMD reduces populations of aquatic insects and other invertebrates, which are critical food sources for fish.
Even short-term exposure to AMD can cause chronic stress and long term population declines in salmonids and other native fish species.
In the News
Brevig Mission Pushes Back Against Accelerating Graphite Project
KNOM Radio Mission, January 21, 2026
“By the end of the decade, a massive new graphite mine on the Seward Peninsula could enter operations. The critical mineral has numerous industrial uses and currently, the United States doesn’t produce any of it.
Thousands of miles away in Washington D.C., politicians have greenlit millions of dollars to help get the project off the ground. Last June, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) put the project on a fast-track, potentially slashing years off its permitting timeline.
But in Brevig Mission, an hour boat ride from the project site known as Graphite Creek, some regional residents have a different perspective on the proposed mine.”
