Notice of Application for State Water Quality Certification
Public Notice (PN) Date: November 21, 2025 PN Reference Number: POA-2018-00210 v1.0
PN Expiration Date: December 24, 2025 Waterway: Graphite Creek
Any applicant for a federal license or permit to conduct an activity that might result in a discharge into waters of the United States, in accordance with Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), must also apply for and obtain certification from the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation that the discharge will comply with the CWA and the Alaska Water Quality Standards (18 AAC 70). The scope of certification is limited to the water quality-related impacts of the activity subject to the Federal license or permit (40 CFR 121.3, 18 AAC 15.180).
Notice is hereby given that a request for a CWA §401 Water Quality Certification of a Department of the Army Permit application, Corps of Engineers’ PN Reference Number indicated above, has been received[1] for the discharge of dredged and/or fill materials into waters of the United States (WOTUS), including wetlands, as described below, and shown on the project figures/drawings. The public notice and related project figures/drawings are accessible from the DEC website at https://dec.alaska.gov/water/wastewater/.
To comment on the project or request a public hearing with respect to water quality, submit comments via (preferred method) DEC website https://dec.alaska.gov/commish/public-notices/ or email to the DEC email address: DEC-401Cert@alaska.gov with the subject line referencing Public Notice Reference Number: POA-2018-00210 v1.0 or on or before the public notice expiration date listed above.
Applicant: Graphite One (Alaska), Inc., Michael Schaffner, 471 W. 36th Ave, Suite 100, Anchorage, AK 99503, (775) 304-5412; mschaffner@graphiteoneinc.com
Agent: HDR Alaska, Inc., Simon Wigren, 582 E 36th Avenue, Suite 500, Anchorage, AK 99503; (907) 980-1901; Simon.wigren@hdrinc.com.
Project Name: Graphite Creek Project
Dates of the proposed activity are planned to begin and end: 06/01/2027 to 06/01/2047
Location: The project site, including the mine site and the 17.3-mile access road, is located within 34 Sections of the Kateel River Meridian, in Nome Census Area, Alaska.
Project Site (Latitude, Longitude): 65.037950, -165.54258.
Purpose: Graphite One's purpose is to mine graphite from its mineral leases on State of Alaska land and to process the graphite into commercially viable ore concentrate for transport to the Port of Nome via a proposed, new 17.3-mile gravel access road and the existing Seward Peninsula public road system.
Description of Proposed Work: The proposed project would permanently discharge approximately 16,400 cubic yards (cy) of fill material into 2.21 acres of waters, including wetlands that have been asserted by the applicant as jurisdictional and requiring permitting under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. The project would also incur temporary impacts to 0.39 acres of applicant-determined jurisdictional waters. The total extent of permanent impacts to wetlands and other waters would be 414.68 acres, and the total extent of temporary impacts to wetlands and other waters would be 1.18 acres. In addition, approximately 12,440 linear feet of stream would be diverted into artificially constructed channels away from the mine site. The total extent of jurisdictional waters that would be impacted by the discharge of fill is unknown at this time and will be determined by completing an approved jurisdictional determination.
Mine Site: Construction of the mine pit and facilities would involve the permanent discharge of fill into 0.21 acres of waters (predominantly streams) and 0.13 acres of wetlands asserted by the applicant as jurisdictional. A total of 381.2 acres of waters, including wetlands, would be permanently eliminated within the 1,176.0-acre footprint of the mine site. A total of 0.12 acres of applicant-asserted jurisdictional waters would be temporarily filled via construction of the access ramp for the construction staging pad along the edge of the Imuruk Basin.
The mine site would include the mine pit, a processing plant, a waste management facility (WMF), a water treatment facility, electrical power generation and distribution, fuel storage and dispensing, explosive and emulsion storage, a helipad, and roads (not including the access road). Additionally, it would include administration offices, warehousing, a metallurgical lab, a crusher, a mill, tailing filtration and thickening, concentrate loading, a truck shop, parts storage, a wastewater (sewage) treatment plant, a drinking water well, emergency accommodations for employees, concentrate container storage, and emergency response. The mine would operate 365 days per year, 24 hours per day.
Mining would occur via open-pit mining using conventional drill, blast, load, and haul to deliver ore to a crusher where the ore process begins. The mine is designed to deliver up to 11,000 tons of ore daily. With a life-of-mine strip ratio of 3.2:1, on average, approximately 35,400 tons of waste would also be handled daily. The overall size and design of the pit were based on open-pit economic optimization and geotechnical considerations.
Mine facilities would be shipped as modularized units to the Port of Nome for transport to the mine. The facility modules and mine construction equipment would be brought to the mine either via the new access road or barged to the construction staging pad via the Imuruk Basin.
The buildout of the mine site would occur in three distinct development phases. Phase 1 would occur within the first five years; Phase 2 would occur from Years 6 through 12; Phase 3 would occur from Years 13 through closure. These phases are closely linked to the water management strategy and are intended to minimize contact water generation throughout the life of the mine. The largest infrastructure element, and the one driving all others, would be the WMF. The first phase of the WMF, mill facility construction and initial pit development, would involve the most land disturbance.
To reduce the quantity of contact water and reduce the need for pit dewatering, Graphite Creek would initially be diverted downslope (north) of the mine pit during the establishment of the first phase of the WMF. The surface diversion would take the flow from Graphite Creek to the Glacier Canyon Creek channel west of the WMF final footprint. Once the mine pit progresses to Graphite Creek, an upstream diversion structure would be constructed to redirect creek flows around the pit and all operational areas into Glacier Canyon Creek to the west. North of the pit, Lower Graphite and Ruby Creeks would be conveyed in a diversion that would flow south and west around the WMF. Glacier Canyon Creek would flow into this diversion with Lower Graphite and Ruby Creeks, then flow northward into the original Glacier Canyon Creek channel north of the mine facilities. A total of 12,440 feet of stream would be diverted at full buildout. Additionally, five culvert crossings would be established for roads within the mine site.
The processing plant would use crushing, grinding, and flotation processes. A jaw crusher would reduce ore, which would then be conveyed to a covered stockpile. The crushed ore would then be conveyed to a semi-autogenous grinding mill. Ground ore would pass through seven stages of flotation and three stages of regrinding, producing a 95 percent pure graphite concentrate. The concentrate would be dewatered and dried before being placed in fully enclosed shipping containers for truck transport to Nome.
A process water pond would support operational needs at the mill and capture runoff from the mill area. Sediment basins would be constructed to settle out sediments in the runoff from the mill area before it enters the process water pond. The process water pond would be hydraulically linked with the water treatment ponds to maintain the balance between re-use and treatment.
The waste management facility would store both waste rock material (non-ore) from the pit and tailings (coarse and fine) produced from the milling operation. The fine, wet tailings would be stored in a conventional tailings pond that would be constructed within the WMF. The dam for the tailings pond would be built in stages using compacted waste rock material and coarse tailings. Upon filtering and drying to 8-12 percent moisture content, the coarse tailings would be co-mingled with waste rock as dry-stack storage. Co-mingling and compaction would occur in the WMF using heavy equipment, such as dozers, roller compactors, and graders. The objective of the co-mingling strategy is to create blended, compacted, low-permeability material. Placement of co-mingled material over the life of the operation would result in a very large, stabilizing buttress adjacent to the tailings dam. The WMF would be constructed in multiple stages, and contemporaneous closure activities would be used wherever practical.
The tailings pond would be constructed during the initial stage of WMF development. The elevation of the dam would be raised over time, as operations progress and more tailings storage is needed. Wet tailings would be pumped from the processing pad to the tailings pond by a pipeline. Approximately 25 to 30 percent of the milled material is expected to be diverted to the wet tailings pond for disposal.
A high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or clay basin liner would be installed under the WMF prior to material placement. Additionally, the inside slope of the tailings dam would be lined. An underdrain system would be installed with the WMF. This system would assist in transporting water that drains through the co-mingled material to collection sumps that would deliver this water to the water management ponds. Water from the collection pond would either be recycled for use at the mill or treated for discharge.
Water management facilities would include water management ponds, a water treatment plant (WTP), diversion ditches, contact water ditches, stormwater settling structures, and a diversion structure for Graphite Creek above the mine pit. Water management ponds would be used to store water that runs off from within the mine (contact water) and settle sediments before recycling or treatment. The WTP would treat all contact water to the State of Alaska standards before discharging to Glacier Canyon Creek. The WTP would use precipitation, flocculation, settling, filtration, and reverse osmosis processes before discharge. Monitoring wells would be installed downgradient of the WTP and within Glacier Canyon Creek to detect any changes in water quality that may result from the mining operation.
Diversion ditches along the mine site perimeter would route surface runoff away from site facilities so that surface water remains unaffected by project activities. Graphite Creek would require diversion in Year 1 of mine operations to allow for the tailings pond construction, and once again in Year 5 when the pit footprint encroaches on this non-fish-bearing stream. A diversion structure would be constructed uphill from the mine site to convey water in a pipeline that would discharge the flow into Glacier Canyon Creek west of the pit footprint. With the exception of supporting very few slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) on an intermittent basis, Glacier Canyon Creek is also non-fish bearing and is the natural ultimate discharge point of Graphite Creek. Small sections of other streams in the mine footprint would also be diverted away from the mine and into artificially constructed channels that would lead to natural channels downstream.
Due to a lack of other power sources within the region, diesel-powered generators would be used to provide electrical power at the mine site. These generators would be located on the same pad as the processing plant. Fuel for power generation, concentrate drying, and mobile equipment would be trucked from a bulk fuel tank farm in Nome. Two weeks of fuel storage would be located at the Project site in a double-walled, 850,000-gallon, steel tank. The fuel tank would be located within a containment structure adjacent to the power generation facility. A fueling station and 4,000-gallon gasoline tank for light vehicles would be co-located in the containment.
Construction Staging Pad: A 5-acre gravel staging pad and temporary access ramp would be constructed near Imuruk Basin to support mine site construction, mine facility staging and transport, access road construction, and bulk ore sample shipment. This staging pad and temporary ramp would be developed in coordination with the landowner, Bering Straits Native Corporation, who would lease the site to Graphite One for use during the Project construction phase. As mentioned above, a total of 0.12 acres of applicant-asserted jurisdictional waters would be temporarily filled via construction of the access ramp.
The gravel fill to construct the staging pad would likely be sourced from Brevig Mission and brought to the site by barge via the Imuruk Basin. The temporary ramp would be constructed using mats and clean gravel to allow vehicles equipped with low-pressure tires to transport the construction equipment and modules to the staging pad. It is expected that the ramp will be in place for less than three years. Once the construction equipment and mine facility modules are transported to the mine, the temporary ramp will be removed. The area within the temporary ramp would be re-contoured to preconstruction conditions.
Graphite One would use a shallow-draft barge or landing craft, which can be moored on the shoreline of Imuruk Basin, to offload and store construction equipment and modularized mine facilities during the open-water season. Equipment and facility modules would be staged on the gravel pad until winter, when an approximately four-mile-long ice and snow road could be constructed to transport these materials to the mine. The staging pad would also be used to store a bulk ore sample from the mine until the following open water season for barging to the Port of Nome.
Access Road: Construction of the access road would involve the permanent discharge of gravel fill into 1.27 acres of waters (predominantly rivers and streams) and 0.20 acres of wetlands asserted by the applicant as jurisdictional. A total of 33.5 acres of waters, including wetlands, would be permanently eliminated within the 568.2-acre footprint of the access road and associated material sites. A total of 0.27 acres of applicant-asserted jurisdictional waters would be temporarily filled via construction of the temporary bridge access roads and placement of the temporary piles for trestles during bridge construction.
The access road would begin at approximately Milepost 30 of Kougarok Road, north of Nome, and traverse through Mosquito Pass to the mine site. The access road would be used to transport graphite concentrate to the existing road system in custom, polymer-lined, 20-foot shipping containers with a net capacity of 21 tons. A single truck would haul two graphite concentrate containers at a time. The access road has been designed to meet American Association of State Highway Traffic Officials (AASHTO) standards for design speed or specialized carrier requirements for oversized loads. The road would be built across land owned by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (ADNR) and may be closed to the public for vehicle access. ADNR would make the final determination on public vehicle access and use of the roadway.
The access road surface would be 28 feet wide to accommodate two-way traffic, with side slopes that range from 2:1 to 3:1 (horizontal to vertical). To insulate the permafrost and thereby construct a stable road, the fill for the road would be typically 10 feet thick; the road surface would be typically 10 feet above the ground surface. In locations with soft spots or poor underlying material, additional road prism borrow or geo-fabric may be required. A dust palliative such as calcium chloride may be mixed in with the crushed aggregate surface course material to control dust.
Typical road construction methods would be used to construct road segments in wetlands. Construction would consist of clearing, grubbing, and placing fill; blasting existing rock, in some cases; and/or excavating existing material to reach the proposed design grade. The overall embankment width would generally vary from 50 to 80 feet. The construction limits would include a 20-foot buffer on either side of the toe of the slope to account for temporary activities during construction, such as vegetation clearing and/or equipment operating. With the construction limits, the overall disturbance footprint would range between 100 to 120 feet. No grubbing would occur within the temporary disturbance limits, and vegetation would be cleared above the ground surface.
Locally sourced material extracted from several proposed gravel borrows and rock quarry sites along the route would provide the vast majority of the material needed for road construction. Road construction would typically entail fill placement over native soils. However, cut-to-fill road construction would occur in areas with substantial side slopes and suitable subgrade conditions.
Several streams would be traversed by the access road. Table 1 divides the stream crossings by stream width category and shows the number of streams that would be crossed by culverts and bridges, and the number of streams that support anadromous fish or only resident fish (streams that only support fish species that complete their entire life cycle within the stream). Crossings would be accomplished with culverts or bridges, depending upon the ordinary high water (OHW) stream widths, stream characteristics, and various topographic considerations.
Most of the stream crossings along both the access road and within the mine (outside the pit) would be accomplished with culverts ranging from 3 feet to 55 feet wide. As part of the design effort, culvert crossings were categorized based on stream width and fish presence, as shown in Table 2. Culverts in categories #4 and #7 would be placed in streams that do not support fish, as determined by baseline monitoring that began in 2018. There are no streams within the project area that require the installation of culverts in category #5.
The same approach to culvert design would be followed for the five culvert crossings needed at the mine site. Where the access road would cross seasonally flowing drainages and wetlands, minor culverts consisting of corrugated metal pipe with a minimum diameter of 3 feet would be installed to maintain hydrological connectivity and prevent ponding immediately adjacent to the road.
Full span bridges would be constructed across six named rivers, each of which is over 25 feet in width at OHW. Table 3 lists these bridge crossings and their key details. All bridges would be designed as steel plate girder bridges with a concrete deck. The bridges would be designed for an 80-ton capacity and have an overall width of 16 feet.
Table 1. Stream Crossings
Stream width (ft) | Stream Crossings – Culvert | Stream Crossings – Bridge | Anadromous Fish Stream Crossings | Resident Fish Only Stream Crossings | | |
| 0-1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | |
| >1-5 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | | |
| >5-10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | |
| >10-15 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | |
| >15-25 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | |
| >25 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | | |
| Total | 46 | 6 | 10 | 4 | | |
Most of the stream crossings along both the access road and within the mine (outside the pit) would be accomplished with culverts ranging from 3 feet to 55 feet wide. As part of the design effort, culvert crossings were categorized based on stream width and fish presence, as shown in Table 2. Culverts in categories #4 and #7 would be placed in streams that do not support fish, as determined by baseline monitoring that began in 2018. There are no streams within the project area that require the installation of culverts in category #5.
Table 2. Culvert Stream Crossing Categories
| Culvert Category # | Crossing Type and Size | Mapped Stream Width at OHW | Design for Fish Passage? | Count |
| 1 | Circular culvert 3-foot diameter | For wetland swales; Not for mapped streams | No | To be determined at final design |
| 2 | Circular culvert 4-foot diameter | Up to 2 feet | No | 29 |
| 3 | Circular culvert 9-foot diameter | >2 to 6 feet | Yes | 7 |
| 4 | Circular culvert 9-foot diameter | Up to 6 feet | No | 3 |
| 5 | Pipe arch 15 feet wide | >6 to 10 feet | No | 0 |
| 6 | Pipe arch 15 feet wide | >6 to 10 feet | Yes | 1 |
| 7 | Site-specific pipe arch up to 20 feet wide | >10 to 17 feet | No | 2 |
| 8 | Site-specific pipe arch up to 50 feet wide | >13 to 55 feet | Yes | 4 |
The same approach to culvert design would be followed for the five culvert crossings needed at the mine site. Where the access road would cross seasonally flowing drainages and wetlands, minor culverts consisting of corrugated metal pipe with a minimum diameter of 3 feet would be installed to maintain hydrological connectivity and prevent ponding immediately adjacent to the road.
Full span bridges would be constructed across six named rivers, each of which is over 25 feet in width at OHW. Table 3 lists these bridge crossings and their key details. All bridges would be designed as steel plate girder bridges with a concrete deck. The bridges would be designed for an 80-ton capacity and have an overall width of 16 feet.
Table 3. Bridge Crossings
| Stream Name | Access Road Milepost | Approximate Length (feet) | Number of Spans |
| Nome River | 0.1 | 80 | 1 |
| Buffalo Creek | 0.8 | 95 | 1 |
| Sinuk River | 4.3 | 80 | 1 |
| Windy Creek | 6.7 | 131 | 1 |
| Osborn Creek | 13.7 | 90 | 1 |
| Cobblestone River | 16.5 | 160 | 2 |
Nome Support Facilities New support facilities in Nome would include ore concentrate storage areas, additional fuel storage capacity, and employee housing.
Ore concentrates storage would occur at two sites located in Nome. One is on an approximately 23-acre parcel owned by the Bering Straits Native Corporation (BSNC). The BSNC pad site is partly constructed, and it was permitted for full construction for the purpose of rock and gravel storage by a Department of the Army permit POA-2020-00218 issued on November 20, 2020. The second concentrate storage location is an existing pad that is approximately 10 acres and is owned by the City of Nome and situated very near the BSNC pad site.
Graphite concentrate would only ship during the ice-free season; therefore, Graphite One would need to stage the 20-foot shipping containers at a facility near the Port of Nome. The containers would be stacked three to four high in rows until container ships are able to access the port during ice-free months. Graphite One has assumed that the Port of Nome expansion project would have progressed sufficiently to allow self-loading container ships to load containers dockside. The design-basis ship for transporting the graphite concentrate is assumed to have a 37-foot draft. If the Port of Nome expansion does not proceed, Graphite One would examine options to use shallow-draft boats to transport concentrate containers to a vessel anchored in deeper water.
Fuel storage would occur within a 1.6-acre portion of an existing gravel pad located in Nome and owned by the Sitnasuak Native Corporation (Sitnasuak) and its subsidiary, Bonanza Fuel. Graphite One is working with Sitnasuak to add bulk tankage in addition to the existing nine tanks at that location.
To support year-round mine operations, the Project would require eight million gallons of fuel to be stockpiled in Nome by October 1 each year. Due to sea ice formation on the Bering Sea and Norton Sound, shipping of fuel, concentrations, and other bulk commodities can only occur between June and October. Graphite One has assumed that it would use excess capacity in existing bulk storage owned by the BNSC, but an additional four million gallons of diesel fuel storage would be required. Graphite One is negotiating the construction and operation of that storage with local businesses, which would also be contracted to deliver the fuel to the Graphite Creek Mine. Two 14,000-gallon truck/trailer loads would be required daily. Graphite One intends to provide long-term housing by constructing a subdivision with single and multi-family housing as well as apartments for Nome-based employees. Housing would be constructed within a set of adjoining parcels totaling 157 acres, owned by BSNC, and located just north of Nome. This area is in proximity to utilities (electrical, sewer, & drinking water) and is predominantly barren land recently disturbed by placer mining and lacking permafrost. In addition, Graphite One would construct camp-style accommodations at the mine site to be used during the construction phase of the project. During mine operation, this facility would be used for emergency housing for workers when a storm or some other event causes the access road to become temporarily impassable. During normal operations, Graphite One would bus all workers to and from Nome each day.
Improvements to and Use of Public Roads. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) intends to improve Kougarok Road and other existing roads within Nome in ways that would accommodate transportation of ore concentrate from the mine site. The improvements would include widening, straighten curves, and cap existing roads.
Both construction and operation of the Project would use highway-legal vehicles that do not require additional road design standards and improvements. Currently, ADOT&PF conducts year-round maintenance of the Kougarok Road from its origin in Nome to milepost 13. Graphite One estimates that transporting dried ore concentrate from the mine to the Port of Nome would increase the average daily traffic on the Kougarok Road by 12 round trips per day.
ADOT&PF performed an initial investigation of deficiencies of the existing Kougarok Road in 2024 and made recommendations for improvements. Negotiations between ADOT&PF and Graphite One are on-going and would determine the funding mechanism and responsible parties for improvements and maintenance to milepost 30 of the Kougarok Road. ADOT&PF will determine whether these improvements would require fill in the Waters of the United States.
Mine Closure and Reclamation: After mining operations conclude, the site will transition into final reclamation and closure activities. All facilities and foundations at the mine site would be demolished and removed. The debris would be disposed of in the final pit and covered in accordance with Alaska mining regulations. The last phase of the WMF would also be regraded and fully closed. The haul roads, access roads, and facility pads would be dismantled and regraded to approximate original contours. Topsoil material that was salvaged during operations would be spread on the regraded areas where suitable and reseeded according to permit requirements. The Graphite Creek diversion structure would remain in perpetuity and would require intermittent maintenance.
Due to the site’s remote location, all reclamation activities would be self-performed using the equipment fleet that supported the mining operation. Given the relatively small size of the operation and reclamation activities of the WMF that would occur during the life of the mine, it is assumed that the demolition and most reclamation activities would be completed in approximately one year. WMF reclamation during the life of the mine would include closing sections of the WMF once they are no longer needed, draining down surface water, backfilling the basin with brines and mine waste up to final grade, and installing a cover liner. The cover liner would be covered with growth media and revegetated.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The applicant has acquired several permits and authorizations that are currently valid (Table 4).
Table 4. Permits and Authorizations that the Applicant has Acquired and are Currently Valid
| Permits and Authorizations | Agency | Description |
| Four Temporary Water Use Authorizations (No. F2022-077, 078, 079, and 080 | ADNR | Authorizes water removal from surface waterbodies for exploration activities. Issued by ADNR Water Section and valid until December 31, 2026 |
| Miscellaneous Land Use Permit No. LAS-34100 | ADNR | Authorizes two staging areas along Kougarok Road |
| Land Use Permit No. LAS-34054 | ADNR | Authorizes the placement of a communications repeater and meteorological station |
| APDES General Permit for Storm Water Discharges No. AKR06H00N | ADEC | Multi-Sector General Permit Activity |
| Title 1 Fish Habitat Permit No. FH22-III-0125 | ADF&G | Authorizes activities in fish bearing waters, primarily for water withdrawal structures |
There are several other permits and authorizations that the applicant is currently attempting to acquire in addition to the Department of the Army permit that would be issued by the Corps (Table 5).
Table 5. Permits and Authorizations that the Applicant is Actively Attempting to Acquire
| Permits and Authorizations | Agency | Description |
| Department of the Army permit (authorization under Clean Water Act Section 404 and Rivers and Harbors Act Section 10) | USACE | Required for placement of fill material within waters of the U.S. (CWA Section 404) including wetlands and work in, over, and under a navigable water (RHA Section 10) |
| Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act | USFWS | Required for “take” of eagles including disturbance of nests |
| CWA Section 401, Certificate of Reasonable Assurance | ADEC | Required for assurance that the proposed activity would comply with applicable water quality requirements |
| Air Quality Permits – Title I and/or Title V Operating Permits | ADEC | Required for assurance that the proposed activity would comply with applicable air quality requirements |
| Title 16 Fish Habitat Permit | ADF&G | Required for work, structures, or water withdrawal within water bodies containing fish |
| Permit to Mine in Alaska | ADNR | Required for hard rock exploration and mining activities |
| Dam Safety Certification | ADNR | Required for construction of tailings storage dam and water supply dam |
| Right-of-Way, Easement, Surface Use Agreement, and/or Temporary Land Use Permits | ADNR | Required for access or easements for alignment, including temporary and/or material source access |
| Material Sales (AS 38.05.550–565) | ADNR | Required for material site development on state land |
| Miscellaneous Land Use Permit | ADNR | Required for seismic and geophysical activities on state land |
| Land Use Permit | ADNR | Required for establishment of staging areas, communications repeater and meteorological station, and geotechnical drilling on state land |
| Tidelands Lease | ADNR | Required for lease of state tidelands needed for barge landing establishment and use |
| Millsite lease | ADNR | Required for establishing mine facilities not located on the upland mining lease or claim |
| Temporary Water Use Authorization | ADNR | Required for the use of unappropriated water for less than five consecutive years |
The proposed construction is expected to cause some indirect impacts to aquatic resources within proximity to the project area. Specifically, vegetation clearing as well as soil compaction and rutting from heavy machinery during construction would adversely impact wetlands and streams within the temporary disturbance area along the access road. Further, there is a possibility of petrochemical spills during construction, and the elevated level of human activity would repel fish and sensitive aquatic and semi-aquatic wildlife such as mink and moose.
Applicant Proposed Mitigation: The applicant proposes the following mitigation measures to avoid, minimize, and compensate for impacts to waters of the United States from activities involving discharges of dredged or fill material.
- Avoidance: The following actions would be taken to avoid adverse impacts to wetlands and other waters:
- All mine facilities have been sited within the Graphite Creek and Glacier Canyon Creek drainages to avoid potential impacts to the Cobblestone River and other fish-bearing streams.
- At the processing facilities pad, the crushed ore stockpile would be covered to eliminate effects from dust after the mined rock has been crushed.
- Most of the mine tailings would be dry-stacked and co-mingled with waste rock to reduce the size of the tailings pond.
- There would be no permanent facilities located on the shoreline of Imuruk Basin.
- No vehicles or equipment would be fueled or serviced within 100 feet of wetlands or fish-bearing streams. Fuel would be stored a minimum of 100 feet from any wetland or waterbody.
- Minimization: The proposed mine layout has been minimized to the greatest extent practicable, given the project purpose.
- Mitigation: Due to the Project’s small impact on jurisdictional waters, the distribution of the minimal impacts over multiple watersheds, and the extensive avoidance and minimization measures that Graphite One has already performed and committed to, Graphite One proposes no compensatory mitigation for the 2.21 acres of unavoidable permanent impacts of jurisdictional aquatic resource impacts.
After reviewing the application, the Department will evaluate whether the activity will comply with applicable water quality requirements (any limitation, standard, or other requirement under sections 301, 302, 306, and 307 of the CWA, any Federal and state laws or regulations implementing those sections, and any other water quality-related requirement of state law). The Department may certify (or certify with conditions) with reasonable assurance the activity and any discharge that might result will comply with water quality requirements. The Department also may deny or waive certification.
The permit application and associated documents are available for review. To inquire about or request copies of the documents, contact dec-401cert@alaska.gov or call 907-269-6285.
Disability Reasonable Accommodation Notice
The State of Alaska, Department of Environmental Conservation, complies with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. If you are a person with a disability who may need special accommodation in order to participate in this public process, please contact ADA Coordinator Kristin Mabry, kristin.mabry@alaska.gov, 1-907-334-0884; or TDD Relay Service 1-800-770-8973/TTY or dial 711 at least 3 days prior to the expiration/closure date of this public notice to ensure that any necessary accommodations can be provided.
-------------------------
| cc: | (with encl.) Simon Wigren
Greg Mazer, USACE | Audra Brase, ADF&G; USFWS Field Office Fairbanks
Matthew LaCroix, EPA AK Operations
|
[1] Reference submission number: HQH-3SZS-41B2R; Received: 11/17/2025 12:36:45 PM