June 25 - Titan Mining announced that its subsidiary, Empire State Mines, has been issued conditional selection notices by the U.S. Army for enhanced-use leases at two properties in the United States to establish graphite processing capacity. The move aligns with U.S. efforts to develop domestic supplies of "e-graphite," the battery-grade anode material used in electric vehicles and military hardware, and to reduce full import dependence on processed graphite.
Under the proposed arrangements, the leases could run for up to 50 years. Empire State Mines would assume responsibility for financing, designing, constructing, operating and, ultimately, decommissioning the processing facilities. The U.S. Army would retain legal ownership of the underlying land throughout the lease term.
The two sites identified are a 245-acre parcel at Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas, designated as the primary location, and a 97-acre parcel at Anniston Army Depot in Alabama, which is planned to come online on a sequenced schedule. Titan said the Pine Bluff site is expected to serve as the central hub for the project, while activities at Anniston would proceed according to the sequence established in the lease process.
Construction for the facilities is targeted to begin in the second half of 2027. Titan said it will continue pursuing additional U.S. Army sites to expand its domestic processing footprint. The company operates zinc concentrate assets in upstate New York and is advancing a domestic natural flake graphite supply chain as part of its broader strategy.
The company framed the initiative within the broader U.S. objective of building domestic e-graphite processing capability to supply battery manufacturers and defense requirements and to challenge concentrated global processing capacity. The conditional selection notices represent an early but significant step in that process, subject to the conditions specified by the Army and subsequent approvals necessary to move to construction.
Sectors likely affected: mining and materials, defense logistics, electric vehicle supply chain, and domestic manufacturing related to battery components.