Titan Mining is working to become the first commercial graphite producer in the United States in 70 years, and its agreement with the US Army to process graphite at the Anniston Army Depot in Alabama has progressed to a commercial term sheet, although a definitive lease remains outstanding. Titan would ship concentrate from its Kilbourne mine and demonstration plant in upstate New York to Anniston, where its Empire Mines subsidiary would refine it using existing infrastructure; the lease under discussion covers an initial 50 years with two 25 year renewal options.
Titan was selected in June under the Army’s Strategic Capital Initiatives program, one of three bases considered alongside Fort Drum in New York and Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas. Kilbourne could produce about 40,000 tonnes of graphite concentrate a year over a 13 year life, according to a 2025 preliminary economic assessment putting post tax net present value at $513 million and initial costs at $156 million; a feasibility study on the integrated operation is due in the first half of 2027.