Empire State Mines’ historic milestone for U.S. critical mineral security
Graphite is among the most strategically exposed critical minerals facing the United States today. The country is 100% reliant on imports for natural flake graphite, and China controls more than 90% of global battery-grade graphite processing capacity, a chokehold over materials essential to munitions, missiles, sensors, energy storage and electric vehicles. More than merely a supply chain vulnerability, it is a strategic dependency, especially because the United States currently lacks commercial-scale domestic graphite capacity.
Titan Mining’s Empire State Mines (ESM) selection under the U.S. Army’s Enhanced Use Lease program represents a significant step toward addressing this strategic gap. It establishes a new public-private partnership model for deploying critical mineral processing infrastructure on U.S. defense installations and demonstrates how government and industry can work together to strengthen domestic supply chains without cost to the taxpayer.
The Kilbourne Graphite Project, anchored by Titan’s natural graphite resource in New York State, is uniquely positioned to support a fully integrated domestic graphite supply chain, from mine to value-add graphite products, helping advance U.S. defense, industrial and energy security objectives.
EUL structure: a pioneer public-private model
The Enhanced Use Lease mechanism under 10 U.S.C. § 2667 is a proven but rarely applied statutory authority that allows the Army to lease underutilized land to qualified private partners for up to 50 years. ESM’s conditional selection marks the first application of this authority to a critical mineral processing facility, establishing a replicable template for future mineral-sector EUL partnerships across the defense estate.
The U.S. Army retains ownership of the land at all times, while ESM is responsible for all costs associated with the financing, design, construction, operation and eventual decommissioning of the facility. In lieu of cash rent, ESM will provide in-kind consideration through infrastructure improvements at the host installation, generating direct benefits for military personnel, families and base operations. All project activities will be undertaken in accordance with applicable federal requirements, including Davis-Bacon prevailing wage provisions and Buy American Act requirements.
About Titan Mining Corporation
Titan is an Augusta Group company which produces zinc concentrate at its 100%-owned Empire State Mine located in New York State. Titan is also a natural flake graphite producer and the United States’ first end-to-end producer of natural flake graphite in 70 years.
